Silence In Shame
by FairyofTwilight
Summary: TAITO! Tai and Yamato had gone out for two years, but after a trip out of the country, Yamato breaks up due to an unfortunate event. What happened while Tai was gone? Rated for YAOI, language, content, and abuse. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

I RECOMMEND YOU READ THIS!!!!!!!!  
  
Okay. Disclaimer first: I don't own Digimon or the characters, and I have no connections with the people that do. If I did own the show or the characters, I'd be happy and throwing it in my friend's face that he was so slow, but I don't now do I?! This is why it's called FANFIC! The only characters that are mine are the ones that are made up!  
  
Okay, now that I'm no longer going psycho, this chapter isn't rated R (well what would be considered R), but what comes in later chapters is. I spent a lot of time coming up with this chapter after the original first one came out being a little off-sided and I noted it wouldn't make sense without this chapter. I know what shonen-ai and yaoi are, but I continuously get confused with each idea, so I'm saying this: This story is about male/male love and male/male sex, so if you guys are sensitive on the subject, it is best that you run with your little tail between your legs right now. I don't mean to jump on anyone's back, but seriously it's irritating to see when people flame others for their fanfics and that's just stupid. Anyway . . . this chapter was fun to write.  
  
The dream stage is like an actual dream, so since a dream just jumps from scene to scene without a "stop button" and without pausing, the dream sequence is just like it.  
  
[ text]=flashback w/this chapter.  
  
** text ** =thoughts  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Taichi sat in his seat on the airplane. He buckled himself in and let himself drift into his own thoughts as the stewardess gave them basic instructions. He looked outside the window and took his final gaze at Australia. It had been fun for him, especially meeting the people he did, especially Sonia. Sonia was an interesting girl. He reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope. Her voice then reached his thoughts.  
  
["Alright, Tai-Dye, here's my 'Talk to you later.' There are no 'good-bye's with me, remember that, just 'Talk to you later's. Open it when the plane is off the ground, no sooner, no later. If you open it before, I'll kick you in the ass with the telepathic powers I don't have yet. My address is there and so's my e-mail address, if you want to write. If you're up for a long-distance call, my home number's in there too," Sonia said.  
  
The twenty-year-old Mexican-American girl pulled Tai into a tight embrace. What she did as a kid, he didn't want to know.  
  
"Sonia! I can't breathe!" he yelped.  
  
"Ah! Sorry," she said letting him go. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength, but I do know that you better let me know you got home safe, somehow. Si no lo haces, you just wait and see what I have up my sleeve, Tai-Dye. Damn, I'm going to miss punking you around."  
  
"Yeah, well you're going to have to do it to your brother now. I know he isn't going to like it, but he called you Baka."  
  
"Ah, no! Ese hombre. He's going to get into more trouble than your sweet- ass is with the boys. Speaking of sweet-ass, you tell your hot boyfriend that I said 'konnichiwa.'"  
  
A loud voice in the speakers rang through the airport. "Now boarding flight 710 for Japan in gate 21."  
  
Tai smiled and shook his head. "That's my flight, Nia. I'll tell Yamato you said 'hello.'"  
  
"No, I said to say I said 'konnichiwa' and that's what I expect to be said or I'll kick your ass with the telepathic powers I don't have yet."  
  
"You know what I meant!"  
  
"I know, Tai-Dye." She pulled him into another strong embrace before muttering her "talk to you later."  
  
"I'm going to miss you too, Nia. I'll e-mail you once I'm home. I'll tell Yamato you said 'konnichiwa.'"  
  
"Alright. Aishiteru."  
  
Tai laughed. "Do you have any idea what that means?"  
  
"No, but it sounds nice, so aishiteru."]  
  
Tai laughed. He started to open the letter when he felt something kick him. He turned around and saw a kid struggling with his mother. Tai shrugged it off and began to open the letter again when another kick got him. The kid was already strapped to his seat and he looked irritated. ** Must be the telepathic power Nia was talking about. ** He settled himself into the seat more comfortably and slowly drifted into sleep, droning out the stewardess further than he had already done. This was how he was going to keep out the fact that he was on a plane.  
  
** Dreaming is nice, very nice . . . **  
  
Tai was sitting on a bench right outside the cabin across from the lake at the camp he volunteered at. He wasn't the only one volunteering. Once Yamato heard that he was going to volunteer, he decided to try it, too. Oddly enough, Tai was relieved Mat decided to volunteer, too. But there he was, alone on the bench, his attention focused on the little bear that had been carved onto the seat by Jet, one of the older volunteers. Son of a du- da-du had been daring everyone to do stupid things. There was no doubt on Tai's mind that he was next, as well as four other people he knew.  
  
"Hey Tai!" Mat yelled as he poked Tai's sides, making him jump at least two feet off the bench, then land on his butt right behind where he had been sitting. Mat sat down on the bench and waited for Tai  
  
"What the hell you raging lunatic?!" he yelled back, trying to smack Mat's head as he rubbed his butt.  
  
"Well, if I'm a lunatic then that makes you . . . I have no idea what that makes you."  
  
"That makes me pissed off that you-"  
  
"Got dared by Jet to go skinny dipping tonight?"  
  
"You . . .. What?"  
  
"I was dared by Jet to go skinny dipping tonight, but I want to get him back for making Marky eat the three day old cheese that got him sick. Are you with me?"  
  
"What?"  
  
Tai stood up and sat next to Mat. He gave him a questioning, evil look.  
  
"What are you planning to do?" he asked mischievously.  
  
"Details later. Right now, I've got all the younger volunteers with Marky, Makoto, Haiji, and me. The others don't want anything to do with Jet, even if he is a cool guy . . . when you get past all the pranks and dares and baka shit."  
  
"Yeah, right."  
  
"Seriously. But come to Marky's cabin during lunch and we'll give the full details. Catch ya then, Tai."  
  
He watched Mat run off before he stood up and found himself in Marky's room. He sat down on the floor and placed his food in front of him. He hadn't even touched his lunch when Mat began to tell them the entire plan.  
  
"Okay, first, Tai are you willing enough to jump into the lake at midnight?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I'm going to pretend to drown. How long can you hold your breath?"  
  
"I don't know, but with how dark it's going to be, they're not going to know whether or not we surface to breathe."  
  
Mat let out a wicked smile and looked at Tai. "Tai, you know you're my best friend and I'd do anything for you, right? Do it with me!"  
  
"What!"  
  
"Pretend to drown. We'll scare the crap out of Jet, especially when we act like it never happened, like we were never there."  
  
Tai gave him a questioning look. Yet, even then, he couldn't say no. Especially with the fact that he didn't like Jet and he was looking forward to getting revenge for Marky. "Fine. You owe me if I get sick."  
  
"Yes! Okay, now, Marky since you're in no condition to go out during the night, you're going to leave your cabin open. It's closest to the lake and it's better. Makoto, you hide some clothes for me and Tai close to Marky's cabin, and please put it in a plastic ziploc bag! Haiji, you keep flashlights handy for everyone. Now, I'll jump into the water first and swim out a few feet. I'll act like I'm in trouble and I'll go under. Tai, you start to flip out and jump in. You go under, okay, and then don't go back up."  
  
"I honestly have no idea how long I can hold my breath, what if I drown?"  
  
"Hey, I'm going to be right underneath the . . . no, he'll look there . . . okay, look, we're going to have to swim out a few feet, so . . ."  
  
Tai was now standing next to Haiji and Makoto at the lake, watching Mat undress in front of everyone. ** Damn! ** Tai suddenly felt that the water was very inviting. Jet was standing with a similar expression on his face. There were at least four other volunteers around him.  
  
"You ready Yamato?"  
  
"I wouldn't have agreed if I wasn't . . . even if it was against my will." He took a deep breath. "Here I go! Banzai!"  
  
Mat jumped in with a cannon ball, trying to splash Jet.  
  
"You guys should come in, the water's great! Freezing, but great!"  
  
He swam out a few more feet and started to fidget around. The flashlights were being directed toward him now and he started to make a bigger scene.  
  
"Yamato, are you alright?" Haiji yelled out.  
  
"No! Help!"  
  
He smiled as he dunked his head under the freezing water. ** I have no idea how long I'm going to be able to hold my breath. ** He opened his eyes and saw the lights above his head. Luckily the water was a bit murky. He glided over to the right and let his foot above the water.  
  
"He's over there!"  
  
He lifted himself up and made a scene, again. "Help me! Something has my foot!" He dunked his head back under the water. Tai couldn't help just staring. He felt Yamato was really going to drown. Makoto tapped Tai's side as he rushed forward and directed his flashlight to where Yamato had been.  
  
"Do any of you guys see him?" he asked.  
  
"He's going to drown," Tai stated in a serious tone. "He's seriously going to drown. Aren't you going to help him? You dared him to do it, Jet. Help him! Fuck you guys!"  
  
"Tai, don't!" Jet yelled.  
  
Tai dove into the water fully clothed, barely having time to kick off his shoes. He lifted his head above the water as quickly as he had dove in.  
  
"SHIT! It's cold!"  
  
He started to swim out when he realized that he had no idea where Mat was. He looked at Haiji and saw five flashlights on the water. ** Sons of du-da- du's. Mat you didn't think this through, baka! Where the hell are you?! If you die, I'm going to kill you myself. ** Tai dunked his head under the water again, but couldn't see Mat. He lifted his head again, taking a deeper breathe, and went under again. He felt something grab his leg and he was about to scream when hazy blue eyes met his own. Yamato pointed out somewhere and began to swim, Tai following him. The coldness of the water was taking its toll on both tof them. Tai's breath escaped him and he shot out of the water, coughing slightly. Mat lifted his head above the water a fair distance away from the lights and took a needed breathe of air, coughing.  
  
"Mat, you okay?" Tai whispered. "I seriously thought you were going to drown."  
  
"Yeah, I just held my breath too long. Waiting for you to jump in was driving me nuts. I thought I was going to drown, too. I nearly panicked," Mat whispered back. He looked back to the peer and laughed. "Check out the commotion with the flashlights. Can you hear Jet?"  
  
"No, but let's get out of the water. You've been here longer than I have. You might get pneumonia or something. Where did Makoto hide the clothes?"  
  
"Just a few more feet from here."  
  
They were out of the water the following second. Mat was out first and was already getting the towels that were placed in the ziploc bag. Tai stayed in the water a little longer, keeping his head down. Yamato turned around to hand him the clothes, but noted he was still in the water.  
  
"What the hell, you want to get sick?"  
  
"Huh?" Tai asked, being shaken out of his trance with the water. "Oh, no. But considering my, um, yeah, I'm going to stick it in here."  
  
"You're what? Oh, you mean your rapidly shrinking penis due to the coldness of the water? Quick solution to that: Get out. The longer you stay in there, the quicker it's going to become a raisin."  
  
"No! It's not that! It's-"  
  
Yamato walked into the water and pulled Tai out by force, spotting Tai's "minor" erection through his soaked shorts. Tai blushed a bright red, but . . .  
  
"Tai, I'm greatly honored at your offer, but I'm afraid I must refuse," Mat said. He leaned closer to Tai's ear. "That shouldn't really happen until I start to play with you on the seventh month of our relationship."  
  
"Our wha-?"  
  
It was Mat's turn to be bright red. He placed his hand behind his head, but didn't look away from Tai.  
  
"Look, I know you've had a crush on me for a while. I've had one on you since . . . I have no idea when I noted that it was a real crush, but why do you think I chose you to join me in the stunt?"  
  
"You said it yourself, I'm your best friend."  
  
"Yeah, but I also know you haven't been jumping in the lake for the past week half naked at eleven during the night. I have, so has Makoto, Haiji, and Marky. It's not the reason why Marky got sick, by the way, it was the cheese."  
  
Tai let out a small laugh and he started to undress himself so as to get into clean, dry clothes, much like Mat had already been doing.  
  
"Tai, I asked you since I know you can't say no and I really needed to speak to you about it or I would have been feeling bad. Especially if I let a beautiful, wonderful person such as yourself, slip through my fingers."  
  
Tai's face continued to get redder as Yamato continued to speak. Mat spotted this and decided to go along with it, as Tai was already fully naked. "And a beautiful body, might I add. If you wish to jack off, you might as well do it now, before you put on your clean clothes. Don't be embarrassed. I nearly had one during class, once." Tai's face was so red, he was scared Jet and the others would be able to spot him at the distance they were in. Yamato laughed lightly and turned around, giving Tai a full view of his ass. He turned around and continued to walk back to the water, so as to do what Mat had suggested. Mat tried to keep in his wild laughter as Tai tried to suppress his own sounds. Mat took off whatever clean clothes he had put on and walked back into the water.  
  
"I might as well do this while your add it."  
  
"Hmm?" was all Tai could manage before Yamato pulled him in for a long kiss. He pulled away from Tai and waited for a reaction. "Okay. That was interesting."  
  
"That's it? No 'let's do it again' or 'Sure, I'll be your boyfriend as long as your mine' or-"  
  
Tai kissed him back. He pulled away, leaving Yamato slightly stunned. "Shut up. Now can I please continue to whack the willie before I don't get the chance to control it."  
  
"Sure, but only if you don't point at me like that again. At least until we're both sure what we want to do."  
  
Mat walked out of the water and was now walking into Marky's cabin, fully clothed, with Tai behind him, also fully clothed and shaking. Mat grabbed the closest blanket he could see once inside and threw it around Tai.  
  
"I told you to get out of the water," Mat whispered harshly.  
  
"That was before you told me to jack off," Tai whispered back.  
  
"Yeah, but I never said to get back into the water!"  
  
"Well . . . shut up."  
  
Mat shot him a big smile before giving Tai another kiss. "Get some sleep."  
  
Their heads didn't hit the bed to go to sleep as they walked down a dirt road toward Haiji. Jet was nowhere to be seen. Yamato let go of Tai's hand momentarily and ran up to his other friend.  
  
"So, how'd he take it?"  
  
Haiji smiled. "He's in the lake right now, trying to find your body. We told him it's no there, but he won't believe us."  
  
Mat looked evil as he grabbed Tai's hand and ran toward the lake. He stopped and started to walk like nothing happened. He leaned close to Tai before they entered the visible part of the lake.  
  
"Act like nothing happened. We were in our cabin all night long, sleeping. You didn't feel good, so I stayed with you."  
  
"Why lie about it? We did and I don't feel good."  
  
"Damn, you got sick. Well still, we were never at the lake."  
  
They walked slowly toward the lake, when Mat pointed at Jet, who was barely emerging from the water. He acted like he asked Tai a question before yelling "Jet! What are you doing? Taking a bath?"  
  
Jet erupted from the water and ran up to both of them, still holding hands. "You're fine? Thank god! I thought you drowned. I thought you were fine to do it, but I guess you weren't and then he jumped in and I thought you both drowned and-"  
  
"Jet! What are you talking about?" Yamato asked with a bewildered expression.  
  
"You jumped in the lake last night and you kept going under. I thought you had drowned I was going to tell Mr. Tao this morning, but I thought I could find you along the shore, still alive, but I didn't so I went to look for your body."  
  
"What? I wasn't at the lake last night."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Dude, I didn't jump into the lake. There was no way I was going to do a ludicrous thing such as that, so I just avoided you."  
  
"But you were there, so was he and Haiji and Makoto."  
  
"Tai wasn't at the lake. He was in the cabin with me. He felt sick, but we went to visit Marky before sun down and we played card games before we left for our cabin. I have no idea why you're acting crazy, but it's not funny. C'mon Tai, let's nab some food."  
  
They started to walk away when Tai leaned close to Mat. "I thought we were just going to make him think you drowned."  
  
"Don't worry. We're all in on it. We're going to ask him how it felt to get pranked later on when Haiji and Makoto say that they had jumped into the water and Haiji nearly drowned."  
  
"This if fucked up."  
  
"So's Jet, but it's only until lunch."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tai felt someone shaking him awake right after he felt someone kick him. He opened his eyes and just heard one voice speaking to him.  
  
"Excuse me, sir, but we're landing in five minutes or so. I hope you enjoyed your rest while on the flight," the stewardess said.  
  
Tai stretched his arms above his head and nodded. In a few minutes, his feet will be touching solid ground. It felt good to be home.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I love this story. It's really fun to write. I thought of the basic story line during class, so I'm thanking my English teacher for the time to think after the quiz I failed, anyway.  
  
Some translations (for those of you that don't know, and oh, I know some of the accent marks are going to be missing when I use Spanish, so you'll have to forgive me for that and if my Japanese translations are incorrect, please correct me and I got them off other sources. I'm still learning!): Spanish: Si no lo haces: If you don't do it. Ese hombre: That guy or That man.  
  
Japanese: Konnichiwa (You guys that need the translation really need to read the text): Hello. Aisiteru: I really love you.  
  
Personal (yes I'm trying to clean up my basic language skills): Son(s) of du-da-du(s): Son(s) of a bitch(s) 


	2. Chapter 2

Okay. Disclaimer: I don't own digimon :::cries::: and I don't care that I don't cuz whoever thought of the show has the rightful credit for it since they had the idea first, so there! I had the idea of creating a fairy world, but hey! My imagination goes only so far, damned muse that takes super long breaks. :::hacks empty soda can at snoring fairy muse:::  
  
Before I forget, nEo-cHaN, yes the scene at the lake was a dream. Yeah, it's confusing, but that's mainly why I put in that one line: "Dreaming is nice" or something like that.  
  
Anyway, I can't say that I'm proud of the way this thing is working out so far (I have writer's block with one of the chapters), so please bear with me when it takes a long time to update. Yes my summaries suck, I hate summarizing an entire story with just one or two sentences. My chapters are not that long, either, so yeah. Okay this one makes mention of, well, I don't know how to put it into words really, but someone out there is bound to want to kill me. I'm making notes as I write, so please don't shoot me. :::Ducks from rotten food already being thrown::: HA! You didn't hit me! (I lack sugar intake). Really, I like my story, so I'm confident that others will like it, whether it's three or four people, or that people get shooed away somehow.  
  
Oh yeah, I take criticism and compliments very easily, so if you have any, please do share it. If you guys feel like you have to flame, go ahead, on my good and bad days I need something to laugh about. :::takes out funny word list. "Ethiopia"::: Well, enough talk! Here ya go!  
  
** text **=thoughts  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"Yes!" Taichi yelled in triumph. "I'm back from Australia and kicking tail!"  
  
He grabbed his bag from the floor and looked around for the faces he had been longing to see: his family and Yamato. As soon as he saw them, he threw his bag over his shoulder, grabbed his other luggage, and started to run toward them, almost tripping on a man's suitcase on the way. Avoiding the man with the suitcase, he nearly ran into a woman with a baby carriage, nearly hit an elderly woman, and lastly tripped on a man's leg, catching his balance by throwing his arms around his sister, noticing a change in her immediately. He pulled her at arms length and looked her over, twice.  
  
"Okay, there's something different about you, but I can't place it," he said, suspiciously. He turned her in a quick circle and took another look. He smacked his forehead and laughed. "You're wearing natural make-up, a thin strap tank-top, flowery, nonetheless, a calve length light brown skirt with the ends ripped, including a bandana on your head, and you still have your camera . . . nope . . .can't figure it out. Well, I don't care. I missed you, sis."  
  
"Yeah, I missed you, too, Tai. But having an empty house wasn't that bad when it came down to experimenting with my friends."  
  
"Wha-?" Tai started, before his mom intervened with hug of her own, cutting off his air supply. "Mom, I have to breathe some day!"  
  
"I know, honey, but," she said, tightening her grip, "I missed you so much."  
  
"Mom! I need air! I missed you too, but please! I want live!"  
  
His mom finally let him go and he breathed. "Geez! I saw the headlines flashing before my eyes: 'SON GETS KILLED BY LETHAL HUG ENFORCED BY MOTHER.' You know that would have been bad press."  
  
"Yeah, but that would have been excellent news. It's good advice to mothers that wish to have lives."  
  
Tai stayed a fair distance from his mother and her smile. He turned his attention to Yamato, who looked happy and distant at once. Tai figured he had just been scared something bad was going to happen, or probably did happen. He slowly walked to Yamato and wrapped his arms around him, feeling him flinch a little. Mat slowly put his arms around Tai and held him tightly.  
  
"Yeah, I missed you, too," he said.  
  
Taichi pulled him at a distance. "I spent the summer in Australia and that's the best you can do?" Tai asked, sarcastically.  
  
"Well it was such short notice I couldn't find the proper greeting in time."  
  
"It was plenty of time!"  
  
"Only to the untrained eye."  
  
Tai stared at him. He was about to sport a sarcastic remark when his stomach started to protest, making him blush. "Yeah, well, let's grab some food! I'm starved. You know I get sick on planes."  
  
"And with their food, I don't blame you," Hikari said, making everyone laugh.  
  
"Okay, Tai," his mom began. "Are you going to head out with Yamato? I mean, I have to work today and Hikari is volunteering at the day care center, so we need to leave sort of quickly."  
  
"Only if he wants to come with," Tai said, looking at Mat.  
  
"The answer is obvious, you brainless monkey. All right, Mrs. Kaimiya, Hikari, we'll see you guys later." They waved a brief good-bye to Tai's mother before Mat got his attention again. "Tai I seriously have to talk to you, but right after you eat."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tai glanced at the food in front of him, nearly drooling on himself. He lifted a piece of shrimp, about to chomp it to pieces when he looked at Mat, noticing what he didn't see before. He was wearing a black long-sleeve turtleneck in the warm weather of the coming fall and was paler than usual, almost ghost-like. Also, he hadn't ordered anything for himself while Tai had nearly ordered the entire menu (exaggeration noted). Given the chance, he would have done it, if he had the money. Tai pushed his plate toward Mat, who looked up from the table he had been entranced by.  
  
"Oh, no thanks. I'm not hungry," he said with an unsure smile.  
  
"So," Tai began, still holding the shrimp. "What did you want to chat about?"  
  
"Eat first, then we'll talk."  
  
Tai, hungry as he was, pushed the food aside and stared at Mat's blue eyes. Whatever light was in them was gone, like his natural color. "I'm done," Tai said before a loud growl erupted form his stomach, making people gawk at him and Mat laugh.  
  
"You are a horrible liar. You say one thing, but your stomach says another," Mat said, putting the plate of food in front of Tai. "Eat, then we'll talk. I promise."  
  
"Okay, fine. But it's only because . . ." Tai trailed off as he started to munch out like It was his last meal. He finally finished and noticed that Mat had been staring at him for the longest. The expression on Yamato's face was so distressed and confused, yet also loving and appreciative that Tai couldn't place it. He noticed it start to become a little glazed. Tears were in Yamato's eyes. He placed his hand on Yamato's giving a light squeeze.  
  
"Yamato, what's wrong?" he asked, concern taking over his body.  
  
Yamato stood up, taking Tai by the hand, and led him out of the restaurant. They started to walk about the city in an oddly serene fashion until Yamato started to lean on a rail in the park they stopped in. It was entirely empty, seeing as it was getting dark. It was nearly perfect to tell Tai what he wanted to say.  
  
"Gomen nasai, Tai," he nearly whispered.  
  
"Hmm?" Tai asked, unsure of what he said.  
  
"Remember we made a promise to each other if we ever split up we wouldn't hold a thing against one another?"  
  
"Yeah. What are you trying to say?"  
  
"We promised we wouldn't act differently and we'd always be friends. Well Tai, I-damn it!" He stopped talking as his voice faltered. He glared at the empty field in front of them, wishing an inferno would burst from his eyes and scorch it, turning into the death that he was feeling. He let out a heavy sigh and turned to Tai. "I don't think we should see each other anymore."  
  
Tai couldn't hold in his surprise. "What? We've been seeing each other for almost three years and now . . . what's going on? Did I do something wrong? If you think I did something-"  
  
"What? No, no, no, it's not like that at all. You didn't do anything wrong. If anything you were so good to me. You're a good person and you deserve better than me. I mean, it's just . . . something happened while you were away and . . . . . "  
  
"Well, what-?"  
  
A beeping sound entered the atmosphere as Tai directed his attention to the floor. He looked back at Yamato, who was now checking his watch. He had a fairly hidden terror on his face. Tai saw a red mark on his wrist as he pulled the sleeve over the watch. He started to walk when he turned around, nearly depressed.  
  
"I got to go. I'm sorry if I hurt you. We'll hang out sometime, though."  
  
He walked back to Tai and wrapped his arms around him, saying he was sorry. Tai gently wrapped his arm around Yamato's shoulder, then placed his hand on his shoulder while he gently rubbed his thumb on the back of Yamato's neck. Yamato quickly pushed him away. This took Tai aback. He never reacted like this before.  
  
"Please don't do that," was all Mat could muster as an explanation for his reaction to what was once his favored gesture from Tai. "Gomen, but I got to go."  
  
He pulled Tai into another embrace, the tears that had formed running down both their cheeks. He kissed Tai's cheek, tasting the salty tears and whispered: "I want you to know I still love you and I always will, okay?" There was a little nod. "But this is better for the both of us. I wish I could tell you why, but I can't. You just have to trust me with this, okay?" He waited for a reaction that never came. "I will be there if you ever need me. Remember that, Taichi."  
  
"Same here, Yamato," was the only reply that came.  
  
Yamato pulled away and kissed Tai's lips for the final time before running at full speed, yelling he was late and in trouble, but not for the first time. Tai waited until Mat disappeared from sight before he started to walk home alone. The twilight had already begun to devour the park. Sleep would be coming soon, and there was his escape.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yamato almost fell as he rounded the corner of the street. He was starting to slow down. ** He knows where they live. Remember that. Do you want anything bad to happen? ** He asked himself. He got a sudden burst of energy as he found the damned house. He stopped, breathing heavily and started to walk up the stone steps slowly. He looked up and saw her bedroom light on. At least she could escape this madness, but not him. He noticed a second silhouetted figure in the window. ** No! She's here, too!? **  
  
He started to open the front door, slowly, before the door was yanked open and he was wrenched inside. The taller masculine figure shoved him against the wall, almost making the entire two story house shake. Yamato let out the smallest sound ever heard before he was thrown against the staircase. The taller person grabbed the collar of Yamato's shirt and started to drag him up the stars.  
  
"No! Please, don't do it! I lost track of time!" Yamato screamed.  
  
"Oh, bull shit!" the female yelled from the room of the other girl. "I saw you out there making out with that guy. What do you think you were doing? Lu, let's just do it. I got my camera and everything. I think this will be interesting. We can make big money out of this."  
  
Before he could even reply, Yamato was thrown into the room across from the other girl's room. The door was shut behind them and locked. The second girl peered from her room with a magnifying glass as screams began to fill the house. She quickly dropped the magnifying glass as the loudest scream erupted.  
  
"And thus," she said in a German accent, "another chapter is written in the book of 'Us.' They will never understand what they do and why they do it, but he will."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tai slumped into his bed once he arrived home. Something in his mind wouldn't leave him alone. He'd forgotten something. What was it? ** OH SHIT! SONIA'S LETTER! ** He jumped from the bed and dug through the luggage he had on the plane. He reached for the envelope and opened it.  
  
"She'd kill me if she ever find my home. Okay, that didn't make sense, but . . ."  
  
He read the letter, feeling slightly worse than he had earlier that day. Memories swam through his head as he read on, both good and bad, including getting himself knocked off the surfboard by Sonia when he was getting slightly better than she was. Even the letter itself was decorated with a beach scene in the background. She had said everything she wanted to in the letter, but couldn't word it right, even if she was working on an English major. Once he finished reading the letter, he put it back it the envelope and put it inside a photo album he hoped he wouldn't open for a while. He sauntered back to his bed, threw his body down, and fell into a sleep that seemed to last forever, constantly reminding him about who he had just . . ..  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
Yay! I really hope I didn't do many grammar mistakes, other than the intentional ones my computer's still bugging me about. I have no translations to do and I have nothing more to say other than I hope you guys liked it and my half humor. If you guys liked it, tell me. If you guys didn't like it, tell me, yeah. Tell me what I'm doing wrong! :::fake cries::: Actually you can blame my lazy muse, Hitome. I was sorta babysitting when I was editing. Getting my niece to laugh is easy, with Yubiwa, sometimes. Well I hope you guys review. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I remembered! I don't own digimon or any of the characters. Again, if I did, I'd be a bad sport about it and throw it in my friend's face that he hadn't thought of it before. Actually, he most likely would have thought about it before me, but I still would have decked him. Uh, the song I used in here isn't mine, either. The credit for the song is at the end, but the hell with it, I'll write it double time. It's Mr. White Keys by the Cherry poppin' daddies.  
  
All right, so it didn't take me as long as I thought it would to edit this. Grammar check is still on my ass, buggin' me about my use in colloquial words, from time to time. It's actually very funny. I use "who" instead of "Whom" and it attacks me. I had to combine a bit from chapter 4 to chapter 3, just to be consistent and since I couldn't think of anything else to add in to chapter 4 to have it make sense. So when you get to the part that says "The next day" that was supposed to be a part of chapter 4. So, yay! I'm not doing anything wrong, yet. What sucks is I have class today and it's raining. I was planning on writing a bit from Chapter 4 so I can get out of my writer's block, which is a bitch, and now my paper's going to get soaked. Sucks, doesn't it? Anyway, on with chapter 3!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Two weeks had passed since Tai had been back from his trip to Australia. He had been asleep for a while and it was now Saturday morning. He woke up with the worst feeling he had in years. His head hurt from not eating well, still a depressed from what happened upon his arrival home, and trying to figure out why it had happened. It was either that or the fact that he challenged Kari, his mom, his dad, and a cousin of his to see who could drink two Icees the quickest. He won, of course, but the brain freeze he got because of it was not worth it! His expression changed when he stared at the alarm clock next to him.  
  
"Crap! It's nearly 10:30! I promised Sora a rematch as soon as I got back!" he yelled, rushing to the shower. "No time!" he yelled as he rushed back to his room. He was about to go out the door when a familiar voice caught his attention as he pulled his shoes on, almost falling as he opened the door.  
  
"Don't forget your cell phone this time! And remember to be home by dinner this time!"  
  
"Right! Thanks, mom!"  
  
~ 1*2 ~3 *4 ~5 *6 ~7 * 8  
  
Yamato woke up with a familiar immense pain. He opened his eyes and saw he was in someone else's room. He looked at the bed sheets that had half moons and stars sprawled among them. The nightstand next to him had a variety of fairies on it, including a tin one. He looked around the room and saw a mixture of things a child and a teenager would have in their room. Yet, there was no computer, but instead a dry erase board and a chalkboard next to it. There were a few art supplies lying around. He took a look at his arms that were crossed in front of him. He was wearing someone else's pajamas. They had rainbows on them and some pots of gold. ** Where are the hearts, horseshoes, clovers, and the red balloons? ** (A/N: Lucky Charms, don't like the cereal much, but when I read the line over, I had to add in that thought. Lol. Hey! Someone was bound to say it!)  
  
He started to sit up slowly, feeling the pain shoot through his back. ** That's right, they had used some kind of stick. The bruises are going to show through any white shirt. ** He heard loud angry voices coming from the hall before the door was nearly flung open. A girl with her hair in a high pony tail, a skirt that was nearly completely torn at the end, purple and blue nylons, and an shirt with spooky written on it ran inside and threw her arms up, guarding him from the man entering the room: Lu.  
  
"No!" she yelled and said something in Spanish.  
  
What she said, he had no idea. Neither did Lu, who was standing at the door. Yamato flinched a little as he saw the expression on Lu's face grow more frustrated.  
  
"Speak normal! No more foreign languages!" he yelled.  
  
She started to speak Korean, then moved to German, and then French before starting to speak in a language she made up, and then moving to Spanish again. No doubt repeating the same thing in each of those languages.  
  
"Okay," Lu said, calmly. "I give up. I don't know what you're doing, Yanni, but you better not get me into any trouble or Onii-Chan will never hear the end of it."  
  
Yanni put her arms at her sides and looked at the ground almost simultaneously. She started to sing a song in Spanish {insert any kid song here, pretend it's in Spanish, and press play} as she started to look up and stare at the man before her, smiling, almost laughing. As she sang the song, she started to turn in a circle, making her skirt fly up, showing the shorts she was wearing.  
  
Lu looked at Yamato one last time before walking back out the door. He closed the door lightly as she continued to sing and dance around Mat. She finally got dizzy and plopped down on her bed. She looked up at Mat and spoke Spanish again, smiling as she did so.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't understand what you're saying."  
  
"Oh," she said. "Well, why didn't you say so? I would have spoken in Greek. You look familiar. I know! You are the one that screams. Yes, you are the one Hitome said was going to end up on my bed! She is always right. Right always is she. Maybe you'll meet her one-day. Ah! Yes," she said, looking at one of her fairies. "I know, Pixie, we should go to the park, today." She looked at Yamato, then at the pile of clothes next to the door. "You should change into these clothes and then go to the park. Take a shower, and then go to the park. Leave, for a long time! Days even! Maybe some weeks, but go take a shower, then go to the park."  
  
She stood up, grabbed a plush fairy from her nightstand, and rubbed the tin one on the head with her finger. She grabbed a pair of fairy wings from her closet, put them on, and then grabbed a ribbon from the end. She started to sing the Spanish song again as she disappeared out of the room, leaving Mat alone.  
  
~ 1*2 ~3 *4 ~5 *6 ~7 * 8  
  
Tai ran to the soccer field and stared at the girl in front of him, Sora, with a hint of nostalgia, but not enough for him not to notice what she was doing. She was hitting a soccer ball with her head, multiple times, bored, no doubt.  
  
"Oh thank god she hasn't left," he said. "Hey, Sora!"  
  
She hit the ball one last time, then struck it into the goal. She ran to him and threw her arms around him.  
  
"Tai! You have no idea how much we've all missed you!"  
  
He struggled to catch his breath, and not for the first time. When Mimi had seen him, he thought she would have popped his head off, especially since she was visiting from the United States. She had been saying about her school being on a track system and she was on Track B. (A/N: I have no idea if there are schools on the track system in New York, I think that's where Mimi was during season 2, I don't remember, but that's the way my school is currently, so let's pretend it's like that in NY, too. :::nervous laugh  
  


* * *

  
"I think I have an idea of just how much you and Mimi missed me. At least none of the guys tried to see if I was a doll by trying to pop my head out its socket."  
  
He pulled Sora away and looked at the soccer ball that rolled out of the goal, an evil grin instantly on his face.  
  
"There's no way you're going to beat me, Tai," she said, instantly reading his mind.  
  
"Wanna bet?"  
  
"You didn't beat me last time and you're not going to do it now."  
  
They started their game and were tied a series of times before Daisuke and Iori showed up. They each gave a "Hello" and asked to join in the game. It became a two-on-two game between Tai, Daisuke, Sora, and Iori. Soon, Sora and Iori won the game.  
  
"It was because we let you win," Daisuke said.  
  
"You keep telling yourself that, Dais," Sora said, picking up the soccer ball. She let out a little grin and decided to step up her bad sportsmanship. "You know with a nickname like 'Dais' I should call you 'Daisy' and get it over with."  
  
Daisuke had been walking with his hands behind his head when he stopped dead in his tracks and ran to the girl. "What did you say?!"  
  
"Oh, nothing Daisy. Just wanted you to know how 'flowery' you are. You're such a 'bud.' As long as you're not like 'Daisy Flores' it's fine."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"You don't have to be ashamed of your name Daisy. Oh, your face is turning a 'rosy' color."  
  
By this time, they were running around the soccer field, Sora teasing Daisuke about short handing his name. Tai and Iori were laughing at Daisuke trying to get Sora back for finding a clever way of nick naming him, even though nether could figure out what made her say it. Sora finally threw the soccer ball at Daisuke, hitting him on the head, saying she'd finish it later.  
  
"I have to head home and help my mom. Great seeing you again, Tai!!" she yelled before disappearing from Daisuke's grasp. "Bye Daisy!"  
  
"Girls are so stupid!!!" Daisuke yelled shaking his fist at her. "I'll get you back for that, Sora Loser!"  
  
Tai walked up to him and pushed his head down. "If you want to call her a sore loser, you should at least wait until she loses."  
  
~ 1*2 ~3 *4 ~5 *6 ~7 * 8  
  
Mat was sitting with Yanni outside * her * house. They were in her huge front yard, which she called "the park." She was still in her fairy outfit and playing with her fairy plush doll. The radio she brought out was playing a swing song that she was dancing to. He sat there and observed her. She didn't act like this around Lu or Als. She was smiling and not acting odd at all. She was singing it in Japanese, even though it was in English. It was actually funny how she could keep up with the song with a different language.  
  
"A lot of trouble when he tries to find the beat  
  
He dances like a shovel with a couple left feet  
  
He said he'd rather own the whole damn town  
  
Than be graceful or be well-endowed . . .Wow"  
  
She was singing with much joy. Matt couldn't help but laugh for the first time in nearly two months once in that house. He let the smile hand on his face longer than he would have if Lu had been there.  
  
He was starting to question whether what Lu had said about his cousin was true or not, if they were cousins. Lu didn't say much about her, but he did state that she was mentally ill. "She'll say the same thing in four or five different languages before you understand what she's saying," he had said. "She dresses up in these different outfits everyday. She'll be a nurse one day, then she'll be a fairy the next, then she'll be a fish, it's like a never-ending cycle. She'll yell at you for no reason, leave the room, come back ten minutes later and act like nothing happened. She'll talk to things that aren't there or aren't alive. Just ignore her, let her do what she wants and you'll both be fine. She talks to her food, so be careful during dinner. Thing tend to fly." It's what Lu had said the first night Mat stayed, not exactly by his own free will.  
  
But Yanni didn't seem mentally ill, just extremely unique. She holds decent conversations with him, even if he doesn't understand what she's saying ninety percent of the time. The last thing she told him was something about 1956 and rock and roll music, which lasted an hour or so. She seemed to be protecting him more than anything, too. Whenever she threw herself in front of him, yelling at Lu or trying to get him to kiss one of her bears, or just blocking Lu from Mat without realizing it, Lu wouldn't do anything but point at Mat and tell him to wait until that night, Yanni couldn't do anything. One night, Yanni had gotten him to sleep in her room and nothing happened to him in there, either. He woke up the next morning and saw her sitting in front of the door. He guessed she had kept him from harm at least that one night.  
  
Mat had started to fall asleep sitting on the grass with those memories. He soon felt a pair of hands on his knees. He lifted his sleepy eyes and looked into purple-blue eyes, nothing like Lu's metal brown eyes. The music was off and she was smiling at him. She said something in Greek, then picked up her radio, her doll, and then held out her hand for him, to get him off the ground. He accepted and went inside the house. Yanni looked through the window and saw Als alone in the living room. She opened the door slowly and snuck up behind her.  
  
"Don't even think about it, Yanni," Als said coldly, not looking up from her book. "You do and I'll rip the head off of your plush toy."  
  
Yanni stayed quiet for a few more seconds before putting both her hands on Als' shoulders and screaming, "BOOM!" in her ear, simultaneously. Als dropped her book and was about to slap Yanni, but saw she wasn't in the room. She looked around and stared at Mat, who looked as dumfounded. She had moved too fast for even him to see.  
  
"I didn't tell her to do it," he said for his own defense.  
  
"Oh, shut up. No one ever does. They don't even tell her to stop. Stupid little retarded pain in the ass," Als replied, picking up her book. "I'm going to teach her a thing or two before her next birthday. I'm still wondering why she doesn't do it to you."  
  
Mat was about to retaliate with an attack of his own when he realized she was right. Yanni hadn't done it to him since the first night he was there, alone and scared in the living room, hurting from Lu's own attack. But she handed him the Fairy she called Pixie afterward, saying something in Latin.  
  
Als and Mat both looked at the kitchen door as another "BOOM!" erupted from it. Yanni came out laughing as she ran up the stairs to her room. Lu came out after her with milk dripping down his shirt. ** I'm really, really liking Yanni, ** Mat thought as he suppressed a laugh and a smile. He gave Lu a look before grabbing his sweater and starting for the front door again.  
  
"Where are you going?" Lu asked in a very malignant manner.  
  
"I'm going to visit my mom," Mat half lied. ** Do I have to ask permission to visit family? ** He couldn't say that to Lu, though the idea didn't leave his mind. He knew what would happen if he started to get fresh with the idiot.  
  
"Be back by seven."  
  
Mat exited the door before looking at his watch. It was five. Two hours alone, it was grand, at least until school started. He thought for a second and noticed that his mother's house was the closest to the street, a good hour's walk. He decided to forget about it and started to walk toward Tai's house, getting the bus, a good three stops. Once off, he began his walk, again. He waved hello to several people that knew him on the street and continued walking, turning to reply whenever they asked how he was doing. ** I should have asked Yanni if she wanted to come. She probably wouldn't have understood me. Maybe she would have made a scene by now. ** He stopped for a second and leaned against a pole. He was getting tired so quickly. He was hungry, but he hadn't eaten in. . . .  
  
"I had a great time."  
  
He knew that voice. He looked up and saw Hikari standing in front of her apartment door with a guy. He made it to Tai's? He didn't even notice. He continued looking at Kari as she kissed the guy good-bye. ** When Tai finds out. . . **  
  
His mind drifted when he saw Kari open the door and saw the brunet almost run after the guy she had just kissed. Apparently he had seen it through the window or the peephole. It had only been two weeks since he had broken up with him, but it still hurt. Mat couldn't stand it anymore as he ran back to Lu's. He didn't receive many stares as his face became red with tiredness, hunger, and sadness. Tears were about to devour his eyes when he stopped. He breathed in and looked at the girl standing next to him. She looked at him and held out her hand. She must have been eight or nine. Her clothes were dirty and ripped at parts. Her face was dirty and her hair was a mess. She was missing a sock and didn't have a sweater on. That was when he noticed how cold it was.  
  
"Do you have any change to spare, mister?"  
  
Her voice was so soft and frail. She must have not eaten in days. She was shaking and he could see the heat of her voice form a light fog. He bent down to her level and dug into his jacket's pockets. He had some money there. He took it out and was about to place it in her hands when he got a better idea. He stuck the money back in his jacket, seeing a small look of disappointment in her face, then took off his jacket and wrapped it around her.  
  
"I don't know how much money is in the jacket, but it will keep you warm. Get off the streets and find a place to keep warm."  
  
He was about to walk off when he took another look at her. "Do you have anyone to look after you?"  
  
"Yes, my mommy, but she's sick and she can't take care of me."  
  
"Do you have a place to live?"  
  
"Yes. There's a house that we stay in."  
  
"Well, stay safe and get home soon. There are people out there that will harm you. See you some other time, kid, hopefully."  
  
"Arigatou!" she called after him.  
  
He gave her an encouraging smile as he saw the sweater reach her knees. He gave himself a questioning look. The sweater he gave her wasn't his it was Lu's. He let out a small triumphant laugh as he continued to walk to Lu's.  
  
The next day:  
  
Takeru was walking down the street with money in his pocket and a grocery list in his hand. He took another look at the list his mother had given him. The final line kept making him laugh. "Don't you dare forget the cookie dough! It's for Devon! Remember my boss?!" Oh joy! If he forgot the cookie dough after his mom promised her boss she'd have them, he was dead meat. He couldn't wait to read the headlines: "Mother Loses Control And Kills Son Over Cookie Dough." He laughed some more before passing someone he knew. He turned around and saw the brunette looking at the floor.  
  
"Taichi!" he yelled.  
  
Tai looked up and stared at the blonde before noticing who it was. "Takeru? Oh shit! TK!"  
  
Tai ran and threw his arms around the young boy. He had forgotten he hadn't seen him in months. He considered him his little brother. He nearly squeezed the life out of the poor teen before he let go and let him breathe. He held him at arms length, and then ruffled his hair. He didn't have his hat on and was wearing a rather attractive shirt. If only . . . no, he was too into girls.  
  
"Hey, Tai. How have you been, dude?"  
  
"Not that grand, but man am I happy to see you. Where are you headed?"  
  
Takeru showed him the shopping list and was offered a helping hand by Tai. TK explained that his mother and himself took turns in doing the shopping and this time it was his. He handed Tai the list when he asked what he was going to buy. When he read the comment Takeru's mother had left, he laughed a little too hard, getting attention from people around them.  
  
Upon entering the store, Tai wanted to ask about Yamato, which was really why he was hoping to run into TK at home. He wanted to know why Yamato had done what he did. Instead TK asked him about Australia before he could ask a thing. He immediately told him about Sonia he met. Takeru had barely started to pick the apples he wanted when he started to laugh, making him nearly drop them.  
  
"So she was calling you baka and her brother thought she was calling you a cow?" TK blurted out, hitting a new round of laughter.  
  
"Yeah, I know. It turns out in Mexico baka, well vaca, V-A-C-A, means cow. She ended up calling me est. . . estup. . . I don't remember, but it's almost the same as Baka."  
  
"But you ended up being friends?"  
  
"Yeah. It turns out she was studying abroad. She had studied a bit of Japanese before leaving the United States. When I was going to leave, she gave me her e-mail address, and her home address, then said Aishiteru. I asked her if she knew what it meant and guess what she said."  
  
"What'd she say?"  
  
"She said 'No, but it sounds nice, so Aishiteru.'"  
  
TK gave off an "awe" knowing it would make Tai blush. He looked at the list again and walked to the dairy section and took out a dozen eggs and two gallons of milk. He saw the expression on Tai's face and knew he was going to be hit by a serious question.  
  
"How was Yamato when I left?"  
  
Takeru stared at the cheese in front of him, making him remember the cookie dough, oddly enough. He walked to get the cookie dough, trying to remember how his brother was after Tai left. ** He must have noticed how Yamato looks. ** He saw potatoes and remembered that he had to buy those, too. He soon let out a little chuckle and shook his head.  
  
"If the guy were to be any more in love with you, I think he'd run through a nuclear war just to be by your side," he saw the smile cross Tai's face, but quickly fade away. "For a week, he couldn't stop saying he was going to give you a big bear hug and never let you go when you got back. He kept planning a huge surprise 'Welcome Home' bash with the works, including a new song he had co-written with Jubilee, the pretty girl in his band. I'm not kidding when I say you were the only thing on your mind when he wasn't thinking about homework or playing at a gig." He paused as he made his way around the grocery store and found the cookie dough his mother's boss loved, chocolate chip with sprinkles. {A/N: If there were ever cookie dough of the such, I'd be so happy} He picked it up and continued down the list, getting cereal next. "Well, at one of his gigs some guy walked up to us and asked if he was Yamato, then pulled him aside and asked him some other question. I didn't hear, but the guy looked a bit upset with Mat's reply. Mat came back and started to talk to me about how the guy was psycho. I don't blame him, really; he looked like a psycho. After that, the guy started to show up more often at Mat's gigs and kept bothering him. I didn't go to one of Mat's gigs, damn Kanzaki's English homework, but after * that * gig, he started to detach himself from everyone. We thought he was becoming depressed with your not being home, but it couldn't have been that. We wanted to take him out. Even Hikari tried to drag him to the museum, once, but he just smiled and said no."  
  
Takeru walked to the front to pay for the groceries before heading back and getting the lettuce head he forgot.  
  
"Well, he was becoming a little thinner, too. I didn't think much of at first. Well, you know how Mat can get sometimes. But I talked to him about Jona, my friend that ended up in the hospital because of Anorexia, but he just shrugged it off and asked why I was asking. I just told him I was getting worried and he said not to. Um, I don't mean to pry, but why do you ask? Wait, I should have asked that from the beginning, eh?"  
  
"Nah, it's fine. I thought you might know why he broke up with me."  
  
"He what?!" Takeru yelled, nearly dropping the groceries as he walked to the cashier. "He was . . .I mean . . .When did this happen?"  
  
"When I came back. He looked so distant and. . . I just thought you might know what happened to him. Do you think he cheated . . .?"  
  
"No!" Takeru snapped out, not letting Tai finish the sentence. "He wouldn't ever do that. He cares about you too much. I'm going to try to find Yamato and talk to him about this."  
  
Tai nodded, then got a questioning look on his face as he helped Takeru take the grocery bags. "What do you mean 'try to find Yamato?'"  
  
"I didn't tell you?! Crap! He moved out of my Dad's house about a month and a half ago. He hasn't bothered to tell us where." "That sounds like something he would have done," Tai muttered as he followed Takeru down the street. He didn't want the silence to take over, so he asked Takeru what else happened while he was in Australia. Takeru was more than happy to gossip as they made their way to Takeru's house.  
  
1^ 2^ 3^4 ^5^6^7  
  
Alright, so I re-read this again. Chapter four is going to take a while to get out, especially since I've been a lazy pain in the ass and I waited until the end of break to start on my English homework, hahaha! Twelve chapters due in three weeks, with twenty-seven questions per chapter, more or less. That's what I get for taking that A.P. course! Laziness is a very hazardous habit, and I do mean a habit! I get no rest. Plus, I'm sick. At least I've read the first chapter, so now there are just eleven left. Oh, that and I'm sick. Staying too long in front of the computer makes my head hurt, so I'm avoiding it as much as possible until I'm better. Anyway, on to the translations!  
  
Flores, the one I can remember, is two things: 1) it is a last name. I do know someone named Daisy Flores and some guy named Izzy flores. 2) It means flowers. See how it fits in with daisy?  
  
Vaca: Cow, as stated.  
  
What Tai was trying to tell TK was that Sonia called him Estupido, which means stupid. Take out the E and the O and what do you get? Stupid.  
  
Arigatou: thank you.  
  
Ok, the song that Yanni was supposed to sing went "un elefante se comlumpiaba sobre la tela de un arania" if you guys know it. I have no idea what the song is called, but it talks about an elefant swinging itself on a spider's web, then when they see that it doesn't break, they call another, then it says "dos elefantes se columpiaban sobre la tela de un arania" and so on and so forth. I don't remember the whole song, so I didn't write it.  
  
The swing song is: Mr. White Keys by the cherry-poppin' daddies.  
  
If anyone would like to know about the track system, ask and I'll explain in the least confusing manner as possible. It's confusing to explain and it's long! Well, hope you're liking it so far. I'll try to get out of writer's block and finish my homework A.S.A.P. Oh, I just remembered my research on D.H. Lawrence :::nervous laughter::: I'm screwed! 


	4. intermission

First of all, Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine, blah, blah, blah, same old, same old, you know the drill, okay?  
  
Awesome! Today is my first break from all my studying and schoolwork! I've been staying up late, waking up early, which has just thrown my body out of its usual cycle, so :::head falls on keyboard::: Whoa! Oops, :::nervous laugh::: Alright, this is what I'm calling "intermission" my definition is different from the dictionary definition. This is not a break; this is filling in space due to temporary writer's block or too much schoolwork.  
  
This Intermission is a DREAM SEQUENCE that I had written a few days ago. It was supposed to go in later on, but I figured if I entered it in now that a different section may make sense or make no sense at all (this is a paradox, this sentence is). Anyway, it's similar to a series of dreams I had before, which inspired me to write this. It will be confusing, since dreams are, usually, so it will be jumping from "scene to scene." Well, enjoy!  
  
Dream Sequence  
  
Yamato was sitting on the floor under his desk during class. His hands were covering his hears, his attempt to silence the world. He was irritated with his teacher's incomprehensible droned lecture. Somehow he was able to tell, though, that it wasn't his teacher, but someone else.  
  
** Who is that? **  
  
His eyes were opened and now he focused his attention on the drone. No one was surrounding him, yet he was able to hear and sense the other students. The droning voice was still standing out, even through a small ring of laughter.  
  
** I know that voice, but who is it? **  
  
The voice was filling Yamato's head, causing him to close his eyes to listen better. His attention well drawn, he couldn't tell if it was female or male. He started to rock back and forth before it began to consume him and drove him into anger, causing him to shoot off the floor. He pointed his finger in the direction where he had last heard the droning voice the loudest.  
  
"Who the hell are you!?"  
  
He opened his eyes, only to see a sea of flowers. It was a large field filled with flowers of every kind imaginable. He turned around and saw nothing but flowers. It was unreal, maybe surreal even in this state. He took a step forward, until fire shot out of the ground, consuming whatever was in that end. He covered his eyes to keep the flame out of his eyes as he took another step back. Fire erupted from behind him, blocking him from two sections. The head drove him to run to the only open spot he had. The fire chased after him, not letting him escape from its wrath.  
  
He found himself running off a cliff. He fell nearly twenty feet into water as the fire that was above him flew into the air and filled the sky with its rage. The fire began to continue its chase down the hill after him. He hit the water and felt himself sink to the bottom, only seven or ten feet from the top. He looked up as the flames danced above the surface.  
  
** So this is the way I'm going to die? I guess I do deserve to die. Everyone will be happy when I'm gone. I'm sorry. **  
  
Mat felt someone grab him and pull him out of the water.  
  
"NO. You're not going to die on me! I still need you. I'm not done with you yet."  
  
Who was that? He knew that it was a girl. Yamato was about to look at the person that took him out of the water when something grabbed onto his foot, yanking him into the ocean for a second time. He felt like he had been down for minutes, feeling his lungs tighten from lack of air, but he wasn't hitting the sea floor. He started to struggle, feeling his lungs burning. The thing wrapped itself around his arms and torso, giving him another tug deeper into the water.  
  
Yamato continued to struggle, afraid of drowning, but something was changing. He was breathing, but the panic had seeped in far enough that he didn't care. He tried to kick at whatever was taking him into a darkness that was erupting.  
  
** The dark isn't safe! I want out! Let me go! I want to leave! Help! **  
  
A seemingly relaxing hum erupted from whatever was restricting his movements. It was a deep bell sound that filled the water. It was almost telling him to calm down, that everything was going to be okay, but the fear was deeply set. The darkness was engulfing him quickly and his panic quickened. He could see air escaping from him as he opened his mouth to scream.  
  
"SOMEONE HELP ME!" he yelled before he found himself in a classroom.  
  
He looked around, finding himself sitting at a desk. It wasn't his desk or his room. He stood up and walked to the window, noting a bit of unfamiliarity. This wasn't his school either. Where was he? Laughing came lightly from behind the classroom door. He sauntered over to it and opened it, seeing the halls completely empty. He walked to the end of the hall, catching a staircase, noting that he was on the second floor.  
  
"He's dead," he heard a woman say. "He died after I taught him the arts. I shouldn't have let him go out and practice them on his own. I should have gone with him, but not he's gone. He's dead. I promised to take care of him and now he's dead, it's my fault. He was so young, it should have been me. He was my responsibility, my pupil, my friend, and I let him die. I should have been the one to die."  
  
He started to walk down the staircase, wishing to see who was there. Once at the end, he noted a kid in an odd uniform he had never seen. He was about to walk up to the kid when the child ran down the corridor, disappearing at the end. He took the final step off the stairs only to be consumed by a flash of light as a screech filled every crevice of the halls.  
  
Yamato slowly opened his eyes, his heart pounding against his chest. He got off the bed and started to breathe slowly to steady his heartbeat, not wishing to remember the scream. 


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Do I have to do this every chapter? I mean just how much sarcasm can one use in these things. It's obvious isn't it? The show's not mine, neither is the manga. If they were, I'd use them to take over the world! :::evil maniacle laughter. Points at some village or city in a random spot on the map::: Oops, I squashed some defenseless people.  
  
Diclaimer #2: I mention Anne Rice's "The Vampire Lestat" in this fic, but I want to make it clear that I am in no way using it as a theme for my fic (i.e. like a songfic, no way!) So yes, The little summary of one of the parts of the book is just to show that the teacher had read the book before and enjoyed it.  
  
Alright! Yay! After one intermission, (wow, I thought it was two or three) I'm actually updating. This took a while to actually edit since there are some punks in my class that don't want to do their work, but I'm not going to complain about it any further than I already have. That wouldn't be fun, would it? Well, after taking so long to edit the chapter, I'm satisfied enough to say it's ready to be posted. BUT if there are any grammatical errors or the such, it's my fault, yes I take the blame. So, before I bore you any further than I probably already have, Here's CHAPTER 4, I think. Damn intermissions!  
  
**Chapter 4**  
  
Sun was spraying the room, warming it gradually, and bringing light into the dim areas. The little brunette was lying on her bed, peaceful. She was sound asleep under the covers, blocking her from the sun's rays. The room was filled with sound pollution in a manner of seconds, rattling her from her sleep. The alarm went off for the fourth time that morning before Hikari finally took a look at it, hoping to fling it across the room if it was too early to rise.  
  
"OHSHIT! I'M LATE!" she yelled and rushed into the bathroom. She took a quick body shower and ran back to her room, noticing Tai doing the same. "DAMN YOU GIVING ME YOUR ROUTINE!" she yelled, pointing at him and making him stop in the middle of the hall.  
  
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" he yelled back. "MOM GOT US THE SAME ALARM CLOCK!"  
  
"MNAH! NO TIME TO ARGUE! SHOWER, NOW! FOOD, EAT!"  
  
They each ran to the kitchen, got their school stuff, then ran out the door, nearly forgetting to tell their mother good-bye. They went back, just in time to see her explode out the door. She was late for work, seeing as she had the same alarm clock as her children. She rushed past them to her car. They ran down the apartment complex they lived in, just in time to see their mother pulling out of the driveway at top speed.  
  
"HI KIDS, BYE KIDS!" she yelled as she took off nearly hitting a passing driver. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, KUSOTTARE!"  
  
"Now we know where we're going to get road rage from!" Tai yelled as he and his sister ran to school.  
  
It was the fifth day of school and lateness was already a routine of the family, presented mainly from their mother and their identical alarm clocks. You better remember to buy a new clock this weekend, Kari, or you will end up like okaa-san! Kari yelled to herself in her head.  
  
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Yamato sat at his desk for his first class, English Language and Literature. Boredom was filling his mind, attempting to ignore everyone around him, including the girls behind him giggling about how cute he looked. He was tagging a phrase he had read earlier by Mark Twain on his notebook: "I will not let school interfere with my education." Soon, he became bored with that as well. He looked at the book on his desk and opened it as he shoved his notebook aside. How he wished he could disappear the way the character had, just without so much destruction occurring in the process.  
  
Noise outside the room caught his attention, his gaze drifting from the book to the open door. A brunette he recognized was late to class, and judging from the look on the teacher's face, not for he first time. He was holding his hand on the doorframe and breathing heavily, while the teacher had a book in hand and continued to lecture, showing the irritation on his face from being interrupted. He walked into the classroom right across from Yamato's. It was Tai.  
  
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise," Tai's teacher said, shutting the door after Tai stepped in.  
  
"Benjamin Franklin," Yamato muttered under his breath. He directed his gaze to his book again, ignoring his own teacher, knowing that she was walking up and down the aisles as she spoke, but he didn't care.  
  
"Alright, class. You've been in school for nearly a week and I suggest you get used to my routine quick. Unlike that teacher, I'm not tolerable to tardy people. If you are tardy to my class you will suffer the consequences as I see fit. I'm here an hour before first class begins and I'm here for an hour after the last class, out of habit. If anything, I am in my classroom. I know some of you don't care about this class or what happens to your future. Some of you will show this later, some sooner, and there maybe one or two that are showing it right now," she said, taking the book out of Yamato's hands, giving him only a second to read the page number. She leaned to him and whispered, barely audible: "'The Vampire Lestat' by Anne Rice. This is interesting reading. See me after class. There's something I'd like to speak with you about. And you may pick up your book then."  
  
"Yes, Ms. Whitman."  
  
"Now, as I was saying . . ."  
  
Bitch.   
  
She continued to walk down the aisles and then took a very discrete drawing from another student's desk. Just like Yamato. They both demonstrate talents that reflect who they are, but each are in the wrong class.   
  
Soon the bell rang and everyone leapt out of their seats and went out the door. Yamato stayed at his desk and waited for the death glare that never came from his teacher. Instead she opened the book to a page she seemed to find interesting. He stood and walked to her desk when he noted that she wasn't going to move from her spot. She closed the book just seconds before Yamato could call her attention, looking at him with as much respect as a teacher could have for his or her student.  
  
"When I first read this book, there were a series of things that caught my attention, but the one that stood out was when Gabriel was speaking to Lestat about Satan and evil being human creations. It made a lot of sense when I began to think about the 'inhuman' things that one could consider evil because of its differences. Isn't it interesting?" Yamato stayed quiet, unsure of what she meant. "Well, that's not what I wished to speak to you about, anyway, but it was a good guess, you have to admit. All right, I took a long look at your essay from three days ago, Yamato, and honestly, you shouldn't be in this class. Your talents exceed that of this class and you should share that with others. Also, most of the other students will hold you back. I'm going to recommend you to my advanced placement course for third period."  
  
"Why?" he asked, confused.  
  
"Why not?" The silence didn't stop her. "Do you have a class during third that you need in order to graduate and can't switch to first period?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Good, then I need you to give this letter to your counselor so they'll be able to switch your classes. It's for your education . . .." She trailed off and noted the notebook Yamato had. "Hm, well since you believe that . . ."  
  
"What?" Yamato asked, dumfounded. He looked at what she was staring at and saw Mark Twain's quote staring at him. "Oh. I'm going to be late for my next class, so. . . you want me to hand that to my counselor?"  
  
"No, I'll do it, better yet. I'll badger . . . wrong word . . . bother you until you do so, so I'd rather do it myself. They'll call you to make the switch, so be prepared. I don't know when it will be."  
  
With that, Yamato walked out of the classroom and saw Tai's back.  
  
"I know. I'm sorry Mr. Sakamoto. I can't promise that I won't be late tomorrow, but I'll try to be on time. I can't guarantee anything until I fix my alarm clock, then it will be for sure until I can't fix it anymore and then I'm not sure until I get a new one, which is soon, but I don't know when that is. . ."  
  
"Kamiya, just go to your next class and stop saying paradoxes."  
  
Yamato ran down the hall, nearly running into Sora on the way to his next class. What the hell is this? The digidestined floor?! he thought.  
  
"The LEAST you could say is 'Sorry,' Mat!" she yelled.  
  
"I'm late to class!" he yelled back.  
  
"That doesn't count!"  
  
Tai walked up to Sora, glad that he wasn't the one to get her mad. The last he had done so was when he threw up in her hat, and boy did that take a long time to clear up. She turned and nearly jumped when she saw Tai.  
  
"What the hell is this? The digidestined floor?" she said, irritated.  
  
"I'm guessing that it is. I guess he has a class near mine. Speaking of class . . . We're going to be late for ours! Damn the campus!"  
  
"Forget the campus! Damn the seven-minute rule! Let's go!"  
  
8888888888888888888888  
  
The school day had gone by quickly and Yamato managed to get his classes changed before the end of the day. Tomorrow, his first class would be Mr. Kirk for art (that teacher was already getting bad reviews from his students, past and present) and their assignment was due, too . . . a smiley face . . . strange and boring. No doubt he'd want it in some kind of a design, but what kind, no one knew.  
  
"Yin Yang," came from behind him.  
  
He turned around and saw Isis, his band's bassist looking at him. She looked like a sprite, oddly enough, with her hair in a high ponytail, spiking out like a bursting sun. She had light make-up on with just a bit of glitter on her blush. The school uniform made her look weird, though.  
  
"Hey, Isis," he said. "Yin Yang, what?"  
  
"The assignment for Kirk. Guy has no idea what art is, does he? That or he's living in the 1920s still in the surreal or existentialist fashion, I don't know. I asked him how he wanted it done and he said 'Just a smiley face,'" she said, mimicking the light voice Kirk had. "He sounds like he's on drugs or something. So, I asked him what kind of smiley face and he drew one of those dorky smiling ones you buy as stickers."  
  
"What?" Mat asked, both confused and exasperated with Kirk.  
  
"Exactly. So I figured if I didn't understand the guy, you wouldn't either. But I would have loved to punch him in the face, but I don't want to get kicked out, now do I? Have you figured how you're going to do it?"  
  
"I'm just going to BS it. Just a smiley face, huh? I'll give him a smiley face to remember. Hey, this is going to sound strange, since I never do it, but can I hang out at your house for a while?"  
  
"Uh, sure. What's the occasion, Mr. Newbie?"  
  
"Nothin,' Just feel like hanging out today."  
  
"Okay, who are you and what have you done to Mr. Anti-social-Yamato- Ishida?"  
  
Mat just shook his head lightly, making Isis give him her classic what- look. They conversed as they made their way to Isis' house, planning sabotage on their art assignment, not caring whether or not they received a low grade or a high grade. Kirk had not given any restrictions, which gave the green light to all the students to do as they wished. That was a bad idea, so Isis thought. She had invisible horns that only mat could see on her head, making him wish he hadn't asked to hang out after all.  
  
8888888888888888888888  
  
Isis opened the door to her home, letting Mat step in. Her small dog, Shrew, jumped into her arms and began to lick her face contently. Shrew looked past Isis' shoulder, seeing the new comer, and jumped in a vain attempt to land on Yamato's head. The dog settled on his shoulder, accepting that space in place of the head. Yamato just looked at the dog with bewildered eyes.  
  
"She must like you, Matty-boy. She doesn't usually aim for anyone's head."  
  
"Since when do you have a dog?"  
  
"Two weeks ago. You never came by, none of you did, thank god, so you guys wouldn't have known anyway. Do you want something to eat or drink before we get started on 'the smiley face?'" she asked, leaning her head against Yamato's, petting his head in the process. She turned around and began to pet her dog and Yamato at the same time. "You're hair's soft. It's soft like Shrew's. Let me compare."  
  
"Hands off, you sprite!" he laughed, pushing her hand away, setting Shrew down. "And no, I'm not hungry, but I would like a glass of water."  
  
"Good, that's all I have right now."  
  
Isis ran to the kitchen, getting two cups, filling them with water, before her much wished-to-be-asked question popped into her head. "Hey, Matty- boy."  
  
"Yeah?" Yamato, who was now sitting on the floor, asked.  
  
She walked in to the room where he was at, handing him his cup of water. "Why did you break up with Taichi?"  
  
Yamato took a big gulp of water, unaffected by her question. "It was just time, I guess. Let's get started on Kirk's assignment so we can watch some television or something."  
  
Isis couldn't help but smack him over the head.  
  
"Hanging out doesn't consist of watching TV in my house, Matty-boy!" she playfully yelled.  
  
They managed to finish Kirk's bogus art assignment in no time. Yamato found out that Isis had their bogus art teacher for the same hour as he did, since he changed his class. He watched as she cleaned the paint on her dog's paws, having used them in place of circles on her smiley face. Yamato looked at his rotting smiley, approving his own work before looking at the dog run away from Isis's hands. If Isis hadn't cleaned off her paws as quickly as she had, there would have been dog tracks on the floor.  
  
He worked on his other homework before he looked at the clock and saw it was seven. He had to end their conversation about their teachers this year, even though he wished he'd be able to go to his father's house instead of going to Lu's afterwards.  
  
"So, he hit the kid over the head with a board eraser before he made a joke about getting white hairs at such a young age. I love that teacher, he's wicked cool," she said.  
  
"That's great, but I gotta go, Isis. Oh! Remember that practice is this Sunday at eleven in the morning. Remember that! If you don't, I'll make sure you don't forget next time."  
  
"I will, geez! You're a drill Sargent out of hell, Yama. What the hell is up with that?"  
  
"I gotta be at least once in life!"  
  
"Not during school days!"  
  
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Yamato was ambushed by Yanni as soon as he entered the front door. She grabbed his arm and tried to drag him to her room as quickly as she could, but as she opened the door, he was pulled away by Als. She pushed Yanni to the ground and threw Mat inside Lu's room, locking the door behind the both of them, leaving Yanni to scream and kick at the door, no doubt cussing in Polish. Yamato shot her one of his looks, well aware that Lu wasn't in the house. Had he been, he would have done something to Mat by now.  
  
"What the fuck do you want, you whore?!"  
  
"Oh, so you disrespect to me, but not Lu? How gutless. Listen, pretty boy. I got reviews," she got a confused look from Mat. "For the film I made a while back, remember? They love your body, Yamato. They said that it's going to be a hit once they edit it a bit. They want another film, quick. It'll be added to that one and then, you'll be a star. It'll be released when it's long enough and with enough scenes that the buyers will like."  
  
"What am I to you two?"  
  
"Money for me. Frankly, I don't care and I don't know about Lu. Now, Lu went out celebrating. Unfortunately for you, he does get drunk. He'll really be pissed off when he hears that you came home late. I doubt he'll just to anything to you, either. "  
  
"Fucking cunt." Yamato regretted saying so when Als got a familiar look on her face.  
  
"That's gonna sting. But I'm in a good mood. I'll cut a deal with you."  
  
"What kind of deal?"  
  
"Well, they do want a long film. You be a good boy, let me continue my film, and I'll call you whenever Lu won't be home. I do have his schedule, you know. To top it off, I'll add in regular internet access. Dump the deal and you're as good as screwed up the ass. Wait, that's already being done. You're as good as dead, Yamato. Also, you have to get Yanni off my back. She listens to you. It's a fair trade, isn't it?"  
  
"So, for you not to tell a drunk Lu that I've been 'bad' and to give me online access, all I have to do is let you finish the film and get Yanni off your back?"  
  
Als nodded. Yamato agreed to their small terms. Als still had an evil grin on her face, with a laugh to match, making Yamato unsteady. His suspicions increased when she didn't unlock the door. Instead she dropped the evil grin and her laugh. The tension from the silence was enough to drive a person insane. Yamato took a step toward the door before Als grabbed his arm, turning him around.  
  
"I hope you didn't forget what Lu and I said before. The only way to get out of this house permanently is if you get kicked out, not by running away or calling the cops. You run or lead us to suspect that you've ran, your damned family will be dead. I know a group of people that are willing to kill anyone for nearly any price on command. They love to kill. They won't hesitate, either. It could be their family or friends, or even their own lovers that they get hired to kill, but they will do it. Do you know what the advantage to your situation is, Yamato? They're located near your father's home, as well as your mother's, so you don't have to worry about seeing them get killed in front of your eyes. One phone call, one name, that's all they need to do their job."  
  
The only expressions other than shock that could be read from Yama's face were fear and defeat. He looked at the floor, trying to ignore Als' teasing low laugh. "Oh, I knew you didn't know that, but it's best that you know now. Didn't you wonder what we meant by our knowing where your family lived? Honestly, Yama, I'd watch what you did and I wouldn't pull that stunt you did today, again. It'll be very sad if your little brother or your mother were to come home one day and see the other dead. Now, your father, who would see him? It will take, what, two days, two weeks before anyone starts to look for him? How will it be for you, knowing their lives are on your head? What will happen to you afterwards, huh?"  
  
"I can care less about what happens to me."  
  
"But your brother. He will and he does. He did seem to be rather attached to you at your last gig. It was rather moving, but I think that kind of drama is best left for those cheap soap operas that last forever."  
  
"Why don't you leave my family out of this?"  
  
The question wasn't answered, but instead, it was a steady reply with calm sharpness.  
  
"Be a good boy and behave yourself, Yamato. I don't want to see your pretty face smeared with tears or red from frustration. I'll be in the living room, reading. Keep Yanni away, will you." Yamato stared at Als as she opened the door and saw Yanni playing with a ball in the hall. She was throwing it to the wall and catching it as it bounced off, not paying any attention to Als until she was already heading down the stairs. She watched as Yamato stepped out of the room, wishing he had lazer beam eyes to shoot at her, killing her, but wishing more that his torment was over. Instead he sunk to the floor, drawing his knees closer to hide his face in them, crying as he let Yanni drag her fingers through his hair in an attempt to sooth him as she kept playing with her ball.  
  
A/N: Alright! That was Chapter 4. Now for some clarifying:  
  
The seven minute rule: That's what I call the time I have at my school to get from one class to the next. It's an irritating piece of crap that doesn't really leave us enough time to use the restroom, even though one of my classes is only two minutes away from the other, hahaha. I think we actually have about eight minutes to get from one class to the other, but it's official name for me is the seven minute rule.  
  
Okaa-san: Mother  
  
Newbie: Sort of like a novice, in a way, but not really. It's one of my own personal words.  
  
So there it is. I think. My brain's not working properly as I type. I say it's the weather and my own rushing mind (I'm hyped about my final project!) so yes. Review, please, and thank you for reading (even my little rants).  
  
:::smiles:::


	6. Chapter 5

Diclaimer: Okay, for all you slow people that didn't read this in the first chapter Digimon isn't mine. If it was, I wouldn't be worrying about paying for a college edumacation. I would be buying god knows how many manga, anime, purchasing a nice house in the suburbs, and planning a trip to visit other countries, while worrying how to pay for my college education, as I expand my work but that's not going to happen anytime soon, now is it?  
  
You guys have no idea how glad I was when I got reviews. Quick sum: I was feeling down and then the reviews came in that other people have less time than I do to get to class. I was like "Yay! I feel special!" But for the record, we don't get bathroom breaks during class either. It consists of having some teachers giving you detention if you even bother to ask, unless it's an emergency. But someone does suspect the little Mexican girl from the beginning, good observation! Talk about that later!  
  
Okay, so before it happens let's all get together, break out with that fake tear face and 3. . .2. . .1: "Awe, poor Yamato." Good. Now that that's over, let me explain. I decided to be brutal with my writing and kick up my writing "moral" skills, which I won't bother explaining since it has nothing to do with ethics. I figured it was perfect time to experiment with my writing technique (and take a bit out of Love and Shame, an original fic in the works), but it's not for the lighthearted, necessarily. Actually, it's not so brutal either, compared to what else I've read, wrote, seen, and heard. It's the most of a warning as you're going to get. Also, I decided to introduce the rest of the members (and yes I'm aware that they were all boys in the series, but c'mon! Things can change!) of Yamato's band. I decided, because of someone saying "By the way, how does Sonia tie into this? Because I KNOW she does, somehow..." I'm still trying to figure that out, myself. Well, now that I think I'm done, and I will say that since I know if I don't I will just continue this rambling, so I will leave this at that! :::breathes::: YAY FOR SUGAR AND CHILE PICANTE!  
  
Silence in Shame  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Yanni danced around the living room while Yamato sat on the floor, attempting to do his math work as Lu stroked his hair. He tried to ignore Lu's petting the best he could as well as how hot the room was (seeing as he was wearing a long-sleeve shirt as he had been) when Yanni spotted something in the room she hadn't caught before. Both Yamato and Lu followed her gaze as she sprinted across the room with a loud squeal, lifting the new sweater Lu had bought after his old one mysteriously disappeared. She let out an elongated gasp as she turned it inside out, inspecting every quality to it.  
  
"Ooh, eighty percent cotton, 20 percent polyester! Near perfect! A blue color with just a tint of black. The blue isn't really blue, really, but it is a mixture of a bit of white mixed in with black, then dipped into another blue color that was just too light to make it look this dark, yes. But more black was added into the tint, as well as other blue hues. Perfect cover up! The stitching wasn't done by hand, no, not this one, but by sewing machine. Brilliant! Who would ever guess? Better than the foot powered sewing machine that was designed by Isaac Singer in industrial Europe before the twentieth century, but not as authentic. Must love this! If a bit of bleach were to get into the washer, then the color will be ruined. Those people's work will be destroyed, but it won't be, no it won't. We'll keep you safe and away from such harm, we will. Beautiful sweater, very beautiful sweater."  
  
Yanni was continuing her mutterings on the work of the sweater as well as a change in clothing since the nomad when Als stepped into the room, grabbing Yamato's attention. He immediately lowered his head, not wanting to make eye contact. Als crossed the room, ready to get Yanni and throw her out of the room, but Lu stopped her. Yanni stayed with the sweater muttering about changes in the clothes industry through the centuries while Lu glared at Als. Yamato kept his gaze down, not paying attention to the math problem anymore, but hearing what was being said with a prayer on his mind.  
  
"I made a promise and I plan to keep it, Alice. Leave her alone."  
  
"Don't call me that. That's not my name, not anymore. Now," she said, gripping Yamato's hair, pulling it slightly, "he came home late, but don't worry, I got him scared, so he won't do it again."  
  
"What did you tell him?"  
  
"I just told him you had gone to a bar. Isn't that right, Yamato?"  
  
"Yes," he said dully, yanking his hair away from her hand. He didn't look at Lu, but his voice was directed at him. "I swear I won't do it again. I'm sorry. I'll call the next time and ask permission."  
  
Lu kicked him away from both Als and himself.  
  
"Good boy, now get out of my sight."  
  
He didn't wait until Lu got fed up with his being disobedient as he had earlier. He had enough bruises to deal with, he didn't want anymore. He sprinted up the stairs, looking for a way to hide, lying flat on the floor, hoping to hear something that he could use. Something was wrong, he could tell. Als broke the deal they made earlier. Lu wouldn't have just done what he did. He had to figure out what was going on.  
  
"Why did you do say such things?" Lu asked, the annoyance evident in his voice. "Now he's going to think I'm some happy-go-lucky drunk or something along those lines."  
  
"Well, there was no use in making him think that you're not pleased with that video."  
  
"I'm not. I never was."  
  
"He thinks you are," Als said, inching closer to Lu. "And if you even dare think about telling him that you didn't I'll make sure your promise is–"  
  
"Fine. I'll act as though I liked that porn video of yours. But you have to stop with this. I'm sick of forcing that poor kid into doing things he should have a choice to do." Lu put up his hand, instantly stopping Als from speaking. "I know you're going to say that the scars on his body will fade, but what about the psychological ones? What about those? You're making those imprints on his mind through me. What about the others?"  
  
"What about them? And what about Yamato?" she said, calmly. "They're just spots on the earth, no more significant than you or me. So what if he's psychologically scared? When he's in the looney bin, we won't have to worry about getting caught, get it? We'll be in Hawaii or some place exotic by the time the damned cops find out who he was and what happened. And even then, I have connections. With the money we'll be making because of those porn films, there's no way they'll be able to catch us. We'll change everything about ourselves, from our appearance to our . . .well that we can't change, but no one will recognize us. Besides, you can't act like you don't like what you're doing. You know you like it and you love doing it."  
  
"Yes, half of it, but it's only when the person is willing."  
  
"Like Sano or Nicholas?"  
  
Yanni stopped her muttering with the sweater and fell silent. After a few seconds she let out a heavy sigh.  
  
"But," she continued speaking to the sweater. "You aren't as lovely as Egyptian clothing. No, but still as good."  
  
Lu turned his attention to Yanni, then back to Als. It was almost quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Yamato hoped his breathing wouldn't intensify with what he was hearing.  
  
"Keep them out of this. I had nothing to do with that. Everything was fine with Sano until you showed up. But you wanted Nicholas, and your damned obsession with making tons of money from those 'films' made you come to me and turn to which ever boy you wanted to cast. He disappeared and Sano . . . let him be and let his spirit rest."  
  
"Do you wish for me to let Benny's spirit rest in peace, too?"  
  
"Shut up! What the hell do you want me to do to that boy? Ring his neck and take his life away like the others? Or do you want me to—well let me show you! Get your fuckin' camera ready if you like this shit, Als! I'm not going to do it in your stupid little room later on, so get to it now."  
  
"Fuck, Lu! What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
"Yamato, get your ass down here!"  
  
His heart stopped for several seconds. Reluctantly, Yamato scooted back from where he was, hoping to hide the best he could before he began to take a leisure step forward. He grabbed the railing of the stairs, not bothering to cover the scared look on his face. He wasn't sure what was going to come, but he knew it wasn't good.  
  
"Get down here," Lu said with a cold stare toward Als. "You like what I do to this idiot? Well?!"  
  
Als kept an indifferent look as Lu grabbed Yamato by his neck, throwing him on the floor.  
  
"Get the fuck up, useless. Well, Als. You better decide if you need your camera now, cuz I'm not gonna do this later."  
  
Als kept her spot as Lu threw Yamato into the coffee table in the center of the room, pushing him down with his weight as he proceeded to pull down Yamato's pants. Yamato already had the look of fear on his eyes. He shut them closed tight, expecting pain to surge through his backside by penetration, but instead a harsh sting greeted him. He yelled in pain as Lu used his belt as a whip. Soon Lu got irritated with his screams and slapped him with the back of his hand.  
  
"Shut the fuck up you stupid pussy! Well, Als? Is this what you wanted in your stupid films?"  
  
Als stayed silent as Lu grabbed Yamato around the neck, dragging him off the table and pinning him to the ground, brutally placing both his hands behind his back, tying them together tightly enough to stop the circulation of blood. Lu shoved Yamato a second time and slammed him against the coffee table a second time, making him hit his lower back against the corner. He sunk down in pain as Lu left he room, coming back with a broom, looking at the long end sadistically. Oh god no! Yamato's eyes grew wide with fear as he tried to get away as quickly as he could. The long end of the broom came down on his back end, making him fly to the ground, unable to support the force of the impact. Yanni gave out a small scared whimper before she escaped up the stairs. She had been left unconsidered through their little melee.  
  
"Just how far do you think I can stick the broomstick up his tight ass?" Lu asked, uncaringly. "Well, Als? How far? Do you think he'll be able to stand it?"  
  
"Don't!" Yamato yelled, unable to sustain his own fear. The only thing that came was a quick slap from Lu's free hand.  
  
"Shut up! So tell me Als, do you want me to do it? Do you want to satisfy to your selfish, sadistic needs?"  
  
Als blinked slowly, still showing indifference to what was happening. She let out a long, tired sigh as she stared at Lu. "If you want to shove that broom up his ass, by all means do it, but don't damage him. I would prefer you save that until later, though. Just fuck him and get it over with."  
  
"No! I want to know what the hell you want me to do to him! Well?"  
  
"Like hell if I care. It's all up to what the people buying the material want. It's all in how much they are willing to pay."  
  
"Let's see if they'll pay for this, Als."  
  
Lu grabbed Yamato's arm, dragging him into the kitchen, dumping him against the wall as he made his way to the utensils. He took out a carving knife, making sure Als was looking, as placed the sharp end on Yamato's arm, drawing a little blood and cutting the fabric of his shirt. Yamato bit down on his teeth, doing his best to block out the pain that was coming. Als just stared with an odd fascination as Lu dragged the blade down from Yamato's shoulder to his elbow, letting the blood flow out, hitting the floor. He bent his head down toward the cut and licked the blood that was coming out.  
  
"Love it, don't you Als? I can see that hungry look in your eyes. You want more. You want a better show. DEAL WITH WHAT YOU HAVE!"  
  
He placed several more cuts on Yamato's body before he gave up the knife and threw it aside. He then gripped Yamato's hips, forcing his head down as he entered him without a single warning or preparation. He didn't wait for the young boy to become adjusted as he immediately quickened his pace, never ceasing to slow down.  
  
God let this end, let this end, let this end! Yamato thought. He felt his insides tearing as Lu pounded his whole length into him, practically trying to destroy him internally. He kept himself from screaming the best he could, but his terrified grunts escaped him. But no matter how much pain he felt at that moment, he wouldn't let tears escape his eyes. He was finally willing to give up, growing numb to the feelings entering him, as he avoided Als' passive looks. There was no way he would be able to escape it, not today. He could only wince and wish for it to end quickly as he felt blood oozed out from where Lu was breaking him. Please stop this.   
  
Yanni gazed from atop the stairs, watching carefully as she fiddled with the small box in her hands. She looked at the monkey doll that was placed on her shoulder before looking back at the scene before her.  
  
"We must look to write, to write we must look. We have to see to write the truth, monkey buddy, buddy monkey," she whispered to the doll beside her. "No harm in looking. But in playing with the devil and the devil's advocate, all is harmful. The truth shall set thee free."  
  
Lu gave Yamato several more thrusts before pulling out of him, refusing to cum in the boy, knowing that doing so would only further fulfill what Als had intended. He tossed Yamato to the side, causing him to curl up against the wall the best he could. He gave Als a cold stare.  
  
"Clean up the fucking mess if you want that film of yours to actually be distributed. And don't use me as a goddamned alibi to torture him when I'm not here."  
  
With that said, Lu left the room, his temper still flaring. Als, on the other hand, smiled, seemingly pleased with what had been done.  
  
"Stupid dumbass," she muttered, bending down and untying Yamato. "Well, you heard him. Clean up the fucking mess, Yamato. You damaged goods yet?"  
  
Yamato let out a raspy deadly breathe before he swatted Als' hand away. "Get the fuck away from me you lying whore!"  
  
"Pity you feel that way. I was going to help, but now that I remember, I have a meeting with the buyers. Ta much, Yamato."  
  
Yamato stayed on the floor for what seemed like hours before he heard the front door swing open and shut. He laid his head on his arms, feeling pressure on his shoulders from the sudden shift. How big are the bruises going to be this time? He found himself drifting when he heard someone's footsteps in front of him. He looked up, seeing a pair of dark blue pants. His eyes drifted upwards when he spotted those eyes he's grown to thank. It was Yanni.  
  
"Janitor Bismark reporting for duty, what needs cleaning today?" She looked around the room, inspecting it. "No problem, Bossman. I'll have this cleaned in a jiff. Don't worry about a thing. I've seen messes bigger and badder than this. I know just what to do to this mess. Nothing a little windex and scrub-a-dubb can't fix."  
  
With that, she began to clean with her mop and bucket full of water. Yamato let tears run down his eyes when she turned her body. Pulling himself up off the floor to give her the room she needed to clean was difficult. Fire exploded through his body as he inched up. He was finally standing, breathing heavily, when a strong hand grabbed his arm, putting a partially wet towel around his shoulders. Yamato looked up, fear immediately in his eyes.  
  
"I'm not going to do anything to you," Lu said, calmly. He turned to Yanni as he lifted Yamato off the floor. "Thank you for your help."  
  
"No problem Bossman. It's nothing a little windex and scrub-a-dub can't fix. Be done in no time."  
  
Lu carried Yamato to the bathtub that was filled with slightly warm water, dipping him in, hoping he caused as little pain as possible. Yamato decided to gaze at his feet rather than to look at the eyes that caused him horrible fear at that moment.  
  
"I'm really sorry about what I did," Lu said, receiving no reaction at all from Yamato as he began to clean the smaller, younger boy. "I just lost my tempter and took it out on the first person I could think of. I apologize for what I did. I didn't mean to go as far as I had. I hope I didn't hurt you that bad."  
  
No I wasn't hurt that bad, Yamato thought. The apocalypse is happening in my body, but it wasn't that bad. Leave me alone, Lu. Had he had the energy and guts to say so, he would have.  
  
He proceeded to clean the young boy until the blood was off his body, though some was still seeping from the knife wounds on Yamato's body. He reached for the bandages he had set next to him and started to wrap Yamato's body, covering the wounds as gently as he could.  
  
"I know you're probably ignoring me, but I'm being honest in my apologies. I promise I won't hurt you again, in spite of Alice. Did you hear me, Yamato?"  
  
A very small "yes" left Yamato's lips as Lu finished bandaging Yamato's most severe injuries. Yamato felt himself being lifted a second time before he noted he was slipping into a dream-like state of consciousness.  
  
!!!!!!!!!!  
  
:::Dream Sequence:::  
  
Yamato was sitting on the floor under his desk during class, ignoring those around him. His hands were covering his ears and his eyes were shut, his last attempt to silence the world. He was irritated with this teacher's incomprehensible droned lecture. Somehow he was able to tell, though, that it wasn't his teacher, but someone else. Who it was, he could tell, but only slightly.  
  
Who is that? he asked himself.  
  
His opened his eyes, focusing his attention on the drone. No one was surrounding him, yet he was able to hear and sense the other students, each unable to stay still even for a second, each moving to their own accord. The droning voice was still standing out, even through a small ring of laughter that was rising from around him.  
  
I know that voice, but who is it?   
  
The voice was filling Yamato's head, causing him to close his eyes tightly as thought that would help his hearing. His attention well drawn, he couldn't tell if it was female or male. He started to rock back and forth before it began to consume him and drove him into anger, causing him to shoot off the floor. He pointed his finger in the direction where he had last heard the droning voice the loudest.  
  
"Who the hell are you!?"  
  
He opened his eyes, only to see a sea of flowers. It was a large field filled with flowers of every kind imaginable, in every color. He turned round and round, seeing nothing but flowers. It was unreal, maybe surreal even in this state. He took a step forward to start in a journey to see where he was. Before his foot even touched the ground, fire shot out, consuming everything in that direction. Yamato covered his eyes to keep the flame from his eyes as he took a predictable step back. Fire erupted from behind him, blocking him from two sections. The head drove him to run to the only open spot he had. The fire chased after him, not letting him escape from its wrath, consuming everything as it followed him.  
  
He found himself running off a cliff. He fell nearly twenty feet into water as the fire that was above him flew into the air and filled the sky with its rage. The fire began to continue its chase down the hill after him. He hit the water and felt himself sink to the bottom, only seven or ten feet from the top. He looked up as the flames danced above the surface.  
  
So this is the way I'm going to die? I guess I do deserve to die. Everyone will be happy when I'm gone. I'm sorry.   
  
Mat felt someone grab him and pull him out of the water.  
  
"NO. You're not going to die on me! I still need you. I'm not done with you yet."  
  
Who was that? He knew that it was a girl. Yamato was about to look at the person that took him out of the water when something grabbed onto his foot, yanking him into the ocean for a second time. He felt like he had been down for minutes, feeling his lungs tighten from lack of air, but he wasn't hitting the sea floor. He started to struggle, feeling his lungs burning. The thing wrapped itself around his arms and torso, giving him another tug deeper into the water.  
  
Yamato continued to struggle, afraid of drowning, but something was changing. He was breathing, but the panic had seeped in so far that he didn't care whether or not he could breathe. He tried to kick at whatever was taking him into a darkness that was erupting.  
  
The dark isn't safe! I want out! Let me go! I want to live! Help!   
  
A seemingly relaxing hum erupted from whatever was restricting his movements. It was a deep bell sound that filled the water. It was almost telling him to calm down, that everything was going to be okay, but the fear was deeply set. The darkness was engulfing him quickly and his panic quickened. He could see air escaping from him as he opened his mouth to scream.  
  
"SOMEONE HELP ME!" he yelled before he found himself in a classroom.  
  
He looked around, finding himself sitting at a desk. He stood up calmly and walked to the window, noting a bit of unfamiliarity. This wasn't his school. Where was he? Laughing came lightly from behind the classroom door. He walked to it, opening it, seeing the halls completely empty. He walked to the end of the hall, catching a staircase, noting that he was possibly on the second floor.  
  
"He's dead," he heard a woman say. "He died after I taught him the arts. I shouldn't have let him go out and practice them on his own. I should have gone with him, but now he's gone. He's dead. I promised to take care of him and now he's dead! It's my fault. He was so young. It should have been me. He was my responsibility, my pupil, my friend, and I let him die. I should have been the one to die. Not him."  
  
He started to walk down the staircase, wishing to see who was there, hoping. Once at the end, he noted a kid in an odd uniform he had never seen. He was about to walk up to the kid when the child ran down the corridor, disappearing at the end. He took the final step off the stairs only to be consumed by a flash of light as a sharp frightened screech filled every crevice of the halls.  
  
Yamato slowly opened his eyes, his heart pounding against his chest. He got off the bed and started to breathe slowly to steady his heartbeat, not wishing to remember the scream. But it was the only thing that plagued his memory.  
  
!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
"Tai, wake up! You're going to be late!"  
  
Tai muttered something in his half sleep when Hikari pulled the blanket away, throwing ice cubes on him immediately after. Tai didn't move, trying to reach for the blanket.  
  
"Okay, you asked for it."  
  
She grabbed one of the ice cubes from the cup she held in her hand, lifting Tai's underwear to . . . .  
  
"Don't you even dare," Tai muttered, grabbing her hand. "You dare to and I swear I will put some down your bra, Kari."  
  
"Well if you won't wake up one way, there's always the other. Now get up, we're going to be late."  
  
"Late for what?" Tai asked, getting up gradually, thankful he had taken a shower in the night.  
  
"Class? School? Any of that ring a bell?"  
  
"But it's Sunday."  
  
Kari jumped on Tai's bed, landing on his legs. Holding out an envelope. "Exactly. Sonya sent you a letter with some problems about translation and manga, so you better get crackin' so you can write her back without any confusing errors this time."  
  
"And who gave you permission to read my mail?" he asked, yanking the letter out of her grasp.  
  
"It said 'Open Me,' so I did."  
  
Kari ran out the door as Tai flung his pillow at her. Damn her waking me up at. . . what time is it? 7:15. Okay. Wait!   
  
"Kari! It's only 7:15! WHAT THE HELL YOU LITTLE PAIN! I SHOULD KILL YOU!"  
  
In the other room, Kari was laughing as her mother gave her an odd look while she set the table.  
  
"Why is Tai threatening you this time?" she asked.  
  
"Reading a friend's letter and nearly throwing ice down his boxers."  
  
Tai on the other hand, continued to curse his sister's life as he heard his mother laughing. He growled as he opened the letter Sonia had sent her.  
  
Hola, Tai-dye!  
  
I had this weird dream about you last night. (But by the time you get this, it'll be way longer than that!) Anyway, I won't bore you with such a dream, since it didn't make sense anyway. You never e-mailed me, you punk! That's not what I was going to write about, anyway. I managed to save up plenty of money to go to Japan for two weeks, so yes, I'm going to come for a visit, but I haven't really decided when. I am taking my classes right now, so it will have to be either after that or in the summer/winter (northern atmosphere/southern atmosphere). Well if it is after the school session, you damned better put on sun block. I'm going to drag you everywhere that you know. And I don't want you getting sunburned like you did here in Australia. By the way, I developed those pictures already!! You're a dead man, you know that? Anyway, I'm going to make the most out of my visit! It hasn't been fun here without you. My brother's no fun to punk around, he figured out all my tricks. You told him didn't you? I knew I couldn't trust you. So, how are things with your boyfriend? I want to see you guys together and I do want to see a kiss. I can't get his face out of my mind. He's such a cutie. I really hope things are going great for you guys. I hope to meet him when I go over there. You said he was in a band. Tell me if they're going to have a gig. I would like to hear him play very much. If he's anything like Daniel Johns, I'll die! Actually, no one can be like anyone else, but there can be a similarity. I'd love to see him play now. Oh yeah. You're writing is a bit shaky, I wouldn't really read it. How about typing it? Write neater!!! All right, I hope you write back as soon as you can and send me some pictures! I wish to see your friends and/or city. I would send you some, but you've already met everyone I know and you've seen the city I've been staying in for the past year. Laters Tai- Dye.  
  
Your friend,  
  
Sonia  
  
Tai folded the letter, a sad expression on his face. He got dressed before he put a sweater on, walking out the front door, and not answering his mother when she asked what was wrong. I knew my Sunday was going to start out bad. Thank god I took that shower last night. He started his walk to the main streets, hoping to get rid of some of his depressing feeling, but knowing it won't go away anytime soon.  
  
!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Yamato laced his shoes with great effort trying to ignore the pain in his back. He sighed heavily once he had them on, completely, rubbing some of the tears out of his eyes. He was in Lu's room. He probably didn't want to put me in my own room. How could I have slept in his bed with him next to me without him abusing me? He usually would have taken advantage of me, but why didn't he? I hope Jubi doesn't mind me going over to her home earlier than planned. Practice with his band wasn't for another three hours, but he wanted out. Luckily, Jubilee, their other guitarist, didn't live far from where he was. He exited out of the room and went into his own to get his guitar, one of his few life possessions. He rushed down the stairs, nearly falling once he reached the bottom. He gazed around the room quickly. Yanni was asleep in a catlike pose right next to the door. Lu was sitting on the couch, a book in his hand. Als was nowhere to be found, thankfully.  
  
"I'm going to Jubilee's house to practice with my band. I'll be back before dawn," Yamato said, slowly.  
  
"You better be," was the only reply that came.  
  
He walked out, stepping around Yanni as he did so, and began his walk toward his friend and band mate's house. But even with how empty the streets were, he couldn't help but get an uneasy feeling as he kept his slow pace. Someone he knew was out there walking in time with him. Who it was, he wasn't sure, but he was close to them. A thought started to cross his mind, though it wasn't necessarily wise of him to be thinking such things. I hope it is Taichi. I want to see him again, hold him. That would make me happy for today, if it is just one day. But what if he won't forgive me for what I did? Maybe he won't even want to be near me after he finds out about what happened. He probably won't even want to touch me or let me touch him. Why does this happen to us? It was the same bull in the digital world, damned it! We never got a break! It just won't ever end! Oh well, I guess it's just mean to be that way. Woo-hoo for this crap.   
  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
My original plan was to go way beyond this (was going to have this range about 20 pages), but thanks to my lazy ass and my never-ending babysitting days, I'm stuck there! I know I won't get much of a chance to continue since I have to baby sit a kid every hour, practically. Worse is I'm not getting paid! Much worse, there's an irresponsible male in the house, so I'm not getting any help with the little monster that doesn't believe in the words "Stop it and sit still." She's a mini tornado! The rest of the kids, minus three, were at least calm enough to listen! Anyway, I'm irritated, which will get better once my niece's mother gets home. I swear I'm not going to have kids of my own. So, with the fic, I'm going to continue where this one left off in the next chapter, I'll get it out before my classes begin in the fall, if I get a break and get a real summer!  
  
I was feeling bad for what I did to Yamato, but after editing it four times and after watching BeBop and hearing Ed say "All is fair in love and waarrrrrrr," I congratulated myself since I know I could have done far worse with how my imagination works. If I decide to write another chapter like that, I'll give fair warning a chapter ahead of time, but that means I'll have to write two chapters every update, which I can't do right now since my brain is on instadrain (in which everything you think, learn, or every bit of creativity you gain, you loose at least 45% of the material). It's not writer's block. Believe me I know what that is. Before I go through a writer's rambling for three pages, let me say thank you for reading and even more thanks if you read my ramblings, good or bad.  
  
The translation, small list as it may be: Hola-this isn't Holla like "Scream" this is "hola" (pronounced oh-la) as in "Hello" in Spanish.  
  
Now, Please Review if you want. Flame if you want. I just need a laugh. 


	7. Chapter 6

::::Muse holds up sign::: Silence In Shame by Fairyoftwilight

:::Holds up second sign::: Disclaimer 1: You've heard 'em all so why the hell do I have to again?

:::Picks up billboard::: Disclaimer 2: Beck is not a singer I created and neither is his song from Mutations titled "Nobody's fault but my own." Those are his, including his name. This is also not a songfic, so get that out of your head while reading the lyrics, unless you skip over. But if you skip over, then you loose the reason for me putting the song there! Ha! Now you have to read it! Hahahaha!

All right! Even with school and lack of free time I managed to edit and add to this! I missed my personal deadline, but it's okay! I'm not a published pro, so I don't have to worry about it, yet. I know some people might hate me for the end of this chapter, but it's MY fanfic, so I can do whatever I want with it like I do with my original fics (which will be posted on fictionpress if you want to read those, too)! So hence, to stay with the whole "drama" situation and what not, I added it in :::evil laugh:::! IT'S AMUSEMENT, IT'S SAD, IT'S PERFECT! Especially for the ending I have planned and re-planned. Anyway, I'm pleased with the results, as well as the length. Oh yeah, I decided to add in one of my experiences when I went to my friend's apartment. I hit my head on the bed and it hurt, but I laughed anyway, so it's in here. Okay, you guys have got to stop reading my mind! Only one person in this world is supposed to have a telepathic link with me and he doesn't want to sever it, though I do! It's not fair! I mean, that you guys read my mind! :::Waves at confused reader::: 

Darkmetalangel, dear, lol. Don't worry about me adding more taito, it'll come up, okay? I have to catch up with my scratch work (which is like ten pages, maybe more, of just scenes way, way ahead of where I am! If I just jumped into it, this would be too short, too boring and too quickly done. I don't like the thought). You were one of those that read my mind. Right before I read your review, I was thinking I should add in more taito/yamachi and I was planning it through in my head, then there it was. :::laughs:::

Yakari taito: I was going to use the broom on Yamato cuz I was mad, but then I thought about it and he's suffering enough as it is (but it's all part of the plan). Don't you agree?

Oh yeah, the text reading rules (which I've changed several times because I have no idea what's up with Fanfic and it's not letting me use my regular rules! :::tries to kill computer with bat:::):

/text/ is thought.

"/ Text/ " is what they were thinking while they were talking.

1 immediate text 1 is flash back unless stated otherwise.

/" text "/ is speech/song within thoughts.

Here it is and enjoy! :::holds it out like it's food::: Eat up before I destroy my computa!

Chapter 6 

Yamato had been walking for nearly an hour before he started to feel his energy drain. Not much further from Jubilee's house, he hoped. But even with that hour in mind, he wasn't hoping anymore that she wouldn't mind his coming earlier than usual. He had been doing so since the band was brought together anyway. What did he have to worry about?

/Isis might come up with another excuse. What was the last one she used?/ He asked himself. /Oh yeah. "Hey, Yamato, can't come to practice today because my . . . cat's sick. I have to take her to the vet!" Sure. Does her cat also have both of his eyebrows pierced and a love of the macabre? No! She better not pull another stunt like that or I'll kill her./

He was irritated with Isis' "methods" of getting around practice, but she was the best bass player. There was no way he was going to get rid of her for a few missed practices. /A few? Try 14 within the last seven months. But she always gets the songs right. It shows she practices. But she has to learn to do it with the band. ISIS I'M SENDING YOU A DAMNED TELEPATHIC MESSAGE TO COME TO PRACTICE YOU LITTLE BRAT!/

With that out of his system, Yamato let out a heavy sigh as he rounded the corner, noting the familiar body walking toward him. He gently cursed himself with various insults until he had no other thing to call himself but "Baka."

For a second all he wanted to do was run back in the direction he had come and find a different route. Either way, he would end up at Jubilee's. But after a few minutes of debating with himself, he decided it wouldn't matter. He would just pass this friend of his without acknowledging his presence, even if it meant feeling guilty later on.

/Let me pass him without him seeing me. Let _ME_ be ignored./ He pleaded, looking at the floor, so as to not see Tai's face when he passed him. Nevertheless when Beck's "Nobody's Fault But My Own" rang in his ears, he felt like he was going to fall down and beg for forgiveness. There was no way he would let himself destroy the defense walls he had built. That song was now blaring in his ears as he walked past the brunette, who turned to see if the face was familiar, running back to him when it registered.

/"Treated you like a rusty blade, A throwaway from an open grave, Tried to tell you I never knew, It could be so sweet"/

"Yamato!" Tai yelled, turning with a smile on his face. "Hey, Yama!"

The blonde walked past him like nothing. But Tai's smile grew twisted as irritation filled him. He followed the blonde until he managed to grab his shoulder and turned him around.

"Go away," was all Yamato said. The passiveness was the saddest thing in his tone. But the song wouldn't stop playing.

/"Who would ever be so cruel, Blame the devil for the things you do, It's such a selfish way to lose, The way you lose these wasted blues, These wasted blues."/

"So that's the new way to greet someone?"

Yamato didn't stop his walking as he began to slow down. "Well, yeah. Trends catch on quickly, ya know? Now, go away!"

Yamato continued his walk to Jubilee's house, knowing it wasn't that much farther, even with the damned song still in his head.

/"Tell me that it's nobody's fault, Nobody's fault but my own"/

Tai wouldn't let up, though. He refused to be ignored, especially by Yamato. He ran to the blonde, pulling his hair the hardest he could.

"Kono Yaro! Let go!" Yamato yelled.

"No way. What the hell is your problem?" Tai asked, pulling harder on Yama's hair. "You try to just waltz on by without even giving me a proper greeting. I don't know what the hell is going on in your life right now, Yama."

"Good! And I hope you never find out!" Yamato pulled his hair out of Tai's grasp, keeping himself from punching him.

"Well, I'm your friend, whether you like it or not, so don't act like I'm Mr. Cellophane or something you asshole!"

"So what!" Yamato burst out with, continuing his walk.

"What about our promise?"

He stopped. They had made a promise to keep being friends, no matter what happened, no matter how hard anything became, personal or not. Yamato always kept his promises, no matter how small they were or how long ago they had been made.

"Look," Yamato said, calmly. "I'm heading to Jubi's for practice. I don't know if Isis is going to show up, so I want to save some of this energy on yelling at her if I have to, okay? Leave me alone, Tai."

"I thought the last thing you ever wanted was to be alone." No response came.

Tai couldn't stand staring at Yamato's back. He couldn't see if people were ignoring him or just trying to hide something, but in this case, it was both and he knew it for a fact. He closed the distance between Yamato and himself by placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I don't care how much you tell me to go away or how much you try to get rid of me, I'm not going to turn my back on you just because you've decided to have a very shitty attitude, got it? You can use Isis all you want, but that doesn't change the facts. You don't want to tell me what you're going through, but I want to know and I'm not going to stop bugging you until you tell me."

"And no matter how much you bug me, I won't tell you. So now you'll have to deal with me trying to get rid of you and telling you to go away, even though I know you won't let go."

Yamato ran a hand through his hair, the sleeve moving down, revealing a familiar ornament on his wrist. It was the silver bracelet Tai had given him for his birthday a year before.

(Flashback)

1 "Hey, Yamato, open your presents will ya! I want to eat some cake! Cake, cake, CAKE, CAKE, CAKE! CAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"

"Calm down, Tai. I'll open it, soon. Isis just has to learn how to play the solo."

Tai looked at the bass player, who gave a terrified glance. Everyone was at Yamato's house, including Tai's family, enjoying his surprise birthday party. Isis, though, was in charge of leading him around the city until they had arrived to Yamato's house. She had told Yamato that she finally learned the solo she had to. It was a half lie, no less, but it had worked to get him out of the house long enough for everyone to do his or her part. But he wouldn't do anything until he heard her play.

"Tai, honey, sweetheart," she pleaded as she got a pixie stick she had purposefully placed within her braided hair. "Want some candy?"

"CAKE!"

She looked at Yamato, who did nothing but shake his head and form his hands as though he was holding a guitar.

"I lied, okay, Matty-boy! I only know half the solo by heart, but I'm getting there, now open the gifts before Tai decides he wants Isis-a-la-stick."

"Too late for that!" Tai yelled.

It was a tickle attack, but Yamato began to open his presents one by one, until the "thank you"s went all around. The cake was being cut when Tai dragged Yamato to his room.

"Tai, I thought you wanted cake."

"Shut up," Tai said, holding out a small wrapped present, blushing in the process. "I didn't want anyone else to see what I got you."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Tai, you didn't have to do that. I mean—"

"It's special in its own little strange way and no one should see it yet."

Yamato wasn't sure what he meant, but he opened it, cautiously. Soon, a silver bracelet greeted him with Yin-Yang as the centerpiece. He looked at Tai with awe in his eyes.

"I asked for them to have the sign be the stones, but I don't remember what they mean."

"That doesn't matter. Thank you. I'll just wear it so that you'll know everything will turn out fine, no matter how bad anything gets, okay? If we figure out what the stones mean later, that'll be great, but it'll be for luck until then, alright?"

Tai let out a wide grin as Yamato put the bracelet on. He leaned toward Tai and kissed him until Jubilee opened the door, recording them with her video camera.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen," she said, "is how to catch two lover-boys going into the act. You're going to love this forever, Yamato."

"I'm sure you'll love this, too." Tai grabbed Yamato's arm and dipped him before kissing him full in the mouth again. 1

(End Flashback)

Tai just grinned as he wrapped his arms around Yamato's waist, hugging him loosely.

"I'm glad you haven't forgotten," he whispered. He let go and threw an arm around his shoulders. "Let's go to Jubilee's house before you miss practice for the first time in your 'perfect' history."

Yamato was thinking about protesting when Tai just pulled him along the way, trying to get the guy to smile by laughing. The only thing Yamato was glad about was that the song was no longer playing in his head.

Throughout the walk to Jubilee's house, Tai had tried, to no avail, to get Mat to say what was on his mind. Irritated, the brunette gave up, though he still had his arm protectively around Mat. With his loose hand, he knocked on Jubilee's door once they were there, getting greeted by a groggy looking dark haired girl. She was still in her pajamas, her hair a mess, and looked as though she had just fallen asleep and woken up. She rubbed her eyes as she looked at the boys in front of her, taking her time in registering who they were.

"Mato, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked, lazily.

"Jubi, practice today, remember? Your house?" he asked.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, right, right." A long yawn overcame her as she rubbed her eyes a second time. "Um, there was something I was suppose to tell you about that. What was it?"

"If you don't remember, what makes you expect me to remember?"

She looked at him as she stopped rubbing her eye, staring at him with one eye open, before she showed him her middle finger. "Shut up. Me sleepy."

"I know that feeling," Tai said, laughing.

Yamato just shook his head in response. "God, you're acting like Isis."

"Isis? Oh yeah! She said she couldn't make it today. We tried to get in contact with you, but your cell just rang and rang, no answer."

Mat tried his best to keep his lack of surprise and anger to a minimum, neither wanting to recall what had happened the previous night nor wanting to lose his reaction to what he was about to hear, having known something was bound to happen. He looked at Jubilee with deadly eyes, instantly waking her up.

"And why isn't Isis able to make it?"

"She said she was too lazy and she was going to go to an X-box battle royal with her cousins and their friends. You know how she gets with Soul Caliber II and Yansung or whatever his name is and Taki," she managed to explode with one breath.

"If only I didn't. And what about Tom?"

"Drummer boy's sister went into the emergency room during the night. Water broke and only girls, well many, know how much pain that is and how much time that can take."

"And your excuse is?"

"Babysitting, but we were all asleep, finally, until you showed up, earlier than planned, like always!"

"What?!" he asked in surprise. "You know I always show up an hour before the set time to make sure everything's ready!"

Tai sat down on Jubilee's stairs, watching as she and Mat duked it out in a verbal battle, that was very entertaining actually. He soon found himself being joined by Jubilee's baby niece, barely a year old, also interested in the argument at hand.

"And why should our schedules revolve around yours?"

"Because I'm the lead singer and whatever I say goes!"

"That's fallacious!"

"So what? It works!"

"No it doesn't!"

"Yes it does!"

"Wanna bet?!"

Tai looked at the little girl that was sitting on his lap. "And you entered into this family, why?"

The little girl seemingly shrugged her shoulders as she continued looking at her aunt fight. Jubilee had Mat bent down in a headlock, ready to distribute a noogie within seconds.

"Say it, Ishida Yamato!"

"Never!"

Tai looked at Mat's pale face. "Yama, if I were you, I would have said 'I can't argue against girls cuz they'll kick my ass any day, any time' regardless of your macho attitude."

"Shut up, Tai! I'm not going to say something like that!"

"You asked for it, punk," Jubilee sneered.

"Le'go a me!"

The little girl laughed as Mat pleaded for his hair's dignity as Jubilee "ruined" his "perfect" locks. She found herself letting him go as he squeezed the sides of her bent knee.

"That wasn't fair!" she said.

"And neither was ruining my hair!" he yelled back.

"It was already ruined!"

"So was yours!"

"No shit Sherlock!"

"Then what the hell are we yelling about?!"

"I don't know!"

"What should we do then?!"

"Practice! Reschedule it!"

"When?!"

"Later!"

"Fine!"

"See you there!"

"Sure! What time?" he asked calmly.

"I'm not sure," she said, equally as calm. "I'll call up Tom and Isis and see what's going on. If they're up to it, I'll call you and tell you practice is still up, okay? If not, then I'll call you to tell you it's off. We can't practice as A band without THE band. And if this continues, we might actually have to lose some of the new material. And that's not good. We're already behind our set goal."

"Yeah, lucky us. Well, I'll have my cell on, so just text me or something, alright?"

"Sure. See you later, Ya—mato. And hello, Taichi, haven't seen you around in months."

"It comes with being Mr. Cellophane."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. It's a song. Well, I hope to see you later on Jubi. Good luck on getting Isis to come to practice."

"Bye, Tai!"

Tai stood up as Mat began to walk and he placed the little girl into Jubi's arms, waving his bye to the little snoopy girl.

Mat wasn't done arguing after he had left Jubi's house. His mutterings brought back memories of when Tai used to come to most of his practices and all his gigs. It was near impossible to not have the same expression when Isis excused herself from practice in one way or another. But it always ended up the same.

"Don't get all worked up over Isis, Mat. You know she'll keep doing that until she gets bored, but she's serious about her part in the band. She loves to play and is dedicated to learning and actually playing the song. That's all that matters, right?"

"No, Tai. She has to come to practice so that we'll all learn how to play in time with each other, as a group. She screwed up at our last gig. It was the first time, but it will be the last. She has to come to every practice or else we're dead last in the race to fame!"

"What race to fame? Last time I checked, you were avoiding everybody including me. I figured you'd avoid your band, too. I thought you didn't want to be famous."

"Things happen. I wasn't going to just dump the band because their goals are different. I'll go as far as they want to go. When I'm done, I'm done. /Besides, it's the thing that's keeping me alive./ I don't want to be famous, though it would be kick ass. Jubilee, Isis, and Tom are the ones that really want to achieve some kind of fame, big or small. So far local success is grand, but their goal is to surpass that."

Tai threw his arms behind his head. /This guy got confusing./ He gave Yamato suspicious look before poking his ribs. Yamato flinched, giving him an evil stare. "You're too skinny. And pale. You need food. I say we go get some food before you collapse or something."

"I'm not hungry. And stop poking me!"

"Yes you are. And don't argue with me. You do and I swear I'll nail you better than Jubi did and I'll make you call me god."

"You suck, Tai."

"But you like it, don't you?"

A crimson color overtook Mat's face before he put his hands in his pocket and shut his eyes, irritated and refusing to see Tai's beaming face. "Let's go get something to eat."

/Hahahaha! I win./ Tai thought as he placed his arm around Yamato's shoulders in a friendly manner, but to Yamato, it was too familiar. Yes, familiar and painful.

/Why are you doing this, Taichi? You're acting as though you're so comfortable with me like this, but you're not. I can tell. You want to hide it so much, but it's impossible. Hell I want to, too, but you won't let me do it. Why don't you go with someone else, Tai? Just forget about me and go with someone else. But didn't I wish for this?/

"Yama, lighten up. Let's go to my place. I'm sure my mom made something to eat by now, even if it's experimental cooking."

"Fine."

Yamato sluggishly followed Tai up the second flight of stairs to his apartment, reaching the door with him muttering about killing Tom and Isis if the day went wrong. But Tai ignored him, having heard such ramblings for the last three years or four years. He pulled Mat closer to him as he opened the door to his home, not giving him the chance to run.

"Tadaima!" Tai said, moving out of the way so Mat could be shoved in, giving him just enough time to remove his shoes.

His mother poked her head out of the kitchen, getting a view of her son and—

"Oh, Yamato! I didn't expect to see you today."

"Ohayoo, Mrs. Yagami. Yeah, Tai managed to convince me to come, today."

Tai's mother looked at him with a suspicious look on her face.

"If by convince, he means that I dragged him away from postponed practice, then yeah, I convinced him."

"Boys," she laughed lightly before going back to the kitchen, Tai following her closely.

"So, mom, what did you make for breakfast?"

"Well, breakfast is gone, but I can make you something else to eat. What would you boys like?"

Tai looked at Mat, who just shrugged his shoulders. "Anything is fine as long as it's edible. Can you bring it to my room?"

"Sure, honey. Oh, I'm going out later today, okay? Hikari and your father left, just so you know."

"Where'd Kari go?" Tai asked suspiciously.

"Out to the movies with a boy named Hojo. Very handsome young man, and very polite."

"Yeah, I bet. What about dad?"

"Your uncle called and asked him to help him move into his new home. It will most likely take all day, so don't expect him to be back soon. Well, I'll have some finger foods for you, then I'll leave. If you boys get hungry later on, there should be some microwave foods in the fridge. Help yourselves."

Tai nodded, dragging Mat to his room, both in silence until Tai's mom entered the room with a small plate of baby carrots, a large bag of chips, and two boxes of pocky.

"I'm late!" she said, zipping out of the room.

"Figures she wouldn't kill us yet."

They started to eat in silence and in a scratchy atmosphere. Tai generally watching the little that Yamato ate, continuously worried with what others had told him about his, now, ex-boyfriend. The curiosity in him was growing more the more he looked at the blonde next to him, wishing he knew why so many of the carrots were in his stomach and not in the skinny blonde's. /Maybe I shouldn't say anything. It's probably just stress or something. Some people can't eat when they're under a lot of stress. But what about what Takeru said? He's been acting like this since I left for Australia. I'm sure he wasn't in a lot of stress because of that. Maybe if I just ask a small question./ Tai put down the carrot he was about to place in his mouth, looking at Yamato, who was staring at the wall in front of him as though it was the most interesting object in the room.

"Hey, Yama," he said lightly. "What have you been up to since I was away and we split?" he let the last half of the question slip in a vain attempt to hide his disappointment. /Chances of him being an asshole: four to five./

"Here, there, work, gigs, loss of lifestyle due to mishaps, and, oh yeah, diets."

"Is that what you're calling your eating disorder?" Tai mentally slapped himself as he reached for the box of pocky, breaking a stick into four pieces and shoving them into his mouth before he could say anything.

"I currently have no eating disorder since I am eating," Yamato replied, shoving another carrot into his mouth.

Tai, before he could get agitated with Yamato's response, moved from his position on the floor into sitting right on Yamato's lap, cornering him between the bed and himself. He pushed off whatever hair was in Yamato's face before kissing his forehead. He then wrapped his arms around him before he could launch a protest.

"Eating once in front of someone doesn't institute good or poor eating habits, you dumbass. But if you are eating healthy, answer me: why is your skin much paler than usual? Why do you look more like a skeleton? That isn't healthy, Yamato. What is it that's going so wrong I your life? Do you think no one cares?"

Yamato's gaze had long ago cast down to the floor, his mind tracking, but finding only one thought: he had to get out of Tai's house as quickly as possible. Things were getting serious and given the chance, he would suffer the consequences.

"I have to go, Tai."

"I don't think so. I let you go and you're just going to disappear again. That's it! I've made up my mind: you're staying here until the building collapses," with that said, Tai hooked his hands together, creating a barrier for Yamato.

Yamato tried his best to get lose. He tried to tickle Tai to get away by pinching his sides, to no avail. He started to snake around, stopping every now and then to get his energy intact again, and to let the pain that was beginning to rise on his back pass. He managed to get as far as to reach for the door before Tai scooped him up and threw him over.

"No way, Yama!"

But before he could figure out what was going on, Yamato felt his forehead hit the side of Tai's bed, the metal bar. A small amount of pain struck him as he heard Tai yelling: "Holy shit! I didn't mean to do that, are you okay?" But the only response Tai got from Yamato as he rolled over, facing the ceiling, was laughter. Mat was laughing to no end as he held the spot on his forehead that had struck Tai's bed.

"Ha, ha, ha, ow, ha, ha, ha. That was funny."

"That wasn't funny. You could have. . you got hurt. But seriously are you okay? Where did you get hit?"

"Ha, ha, ha, where do you think I did? I'm holding it, dork!"

Tai moved Yamato's hand out of the way and kissed the small bruise. He placed one had on the side of Yamato's face and before he could stop himself, he kissed Yamato full in the lips. He was about to pull away when Yamato unsurely put his arm around him, not wanting it to end. Tai wound up deepening the kiss as he unconsciously slid his hand under Yamato's shirt.

Yamato's mind raced, sending many signals to his conscious, telling him to stop, but it felt right. Nothing was wrong with the touches, the kisses, absolutely nothing felt so right before now. Even as Tai's hand seemed to dance over a sore spot on his rib cage, Yamato couldn't bring himself to push Tai away. But why? /It's all a dream, that's why. You're going to wake up any minute now. There's no doubt about it. It's a dream and it's almost over./ But this "dream" wasn't going to end anytime now. Tai just wrapped his arms around Yamato's waist, not wishing to let him go.

The kissing stopped as abruptly as it has started. But Yamato knew there was bound to be an end to everything. /I want to remember./ He just threw his arms around Taichi, holding him tightly.

"Damned it, Tai!" he said, feeling tears well up in his eyes, knowing if they began to flow, they wouldn't stop. "Why couldn't you just leave me alone?"

"Because I know the last thing you want is to be alone."

Everything here was safe. There was no chance of anything horrible happening to Mat while he was sitting on the floor, with Tai and himself embracing as they were. The planets could collide and destroy the world, but they would be safe. Tai rubbed Mat's back, knowing what he needed, understanding what he really wanted.

Two hours had passed before Yamato opened his eyes, realizing he and Tai had fallen asleep in each other's embrace. /What happened? Wait, we were kissing and then . . . It was good. No, it wasn't good. This is bad. I have to get out of here. We shouldn't have done it, it was wrong. It was wrong, wasn't it? No, no it wasn't. But it wasn't good, either. What if he thinks everything is fine again? It's not. I have to explain it to him./ He could feel himself shaking, despite his long-sleeved shirt. The room was cold. He looked around for a blanket, spotting one on top of Tai's bed and reached for it, trying his best to move as little as possible so as not to wake up the other boy. He finally had it when he looked at his cell phone. There was a message left from Jubilee, just recently left. He listened to it, hoping it was good news.

"Damnit Yamato! You said you'd have your cell on. Well, Isis isn't really up to practice, but she's coming anyway. Tom is too. He has a niece now. So meet us at 2:00 or an hour past that, okay? Call me and tell me what's going to happen. Bye."

Yamato looked at the clock on the phone. 13:25. /It's a quarter after one. I can't tell him./ He slipped around Tai, not waking up the brunette. He threw a blanket over Tai, knowing full well he was leaving and the brunette would probably feel the cold once he was gone. As he walked out of Tai's apartment, he marked Jubi's number.

"Yo," she said.

"Is that your new method of answering the phone?" he asked, walking down the stairs

"Yeah, yeah. Look, we're waiting for you to come. Isis is falling asleep. When are you coming over? Tom's on his way, by the way."

"I'm heading over there already."

"Alright. Well, take your time and hurry up."

"Nice paradox."

"Ya know I love ya."

"Alright, see you."

The final key to the song drowned out all else before Yamato let his voice ring out in a low hypnotizing hum. Tom began to hit the symbols, bringing a slow rising beat into the mix as Jubilee and Isis simultaneously began their part. They had been practicing for four hours already, taking a small thirty-minute break to let their arms and voices rest. After another hour worth of practicing, they all stopped. Tom flopped onto the floor, cradling his left arm.

"What's wrong, Tomo? Baby carrying gets you tired?" Isis asked.

"Quiet you. They're heavy, okay? This was a big baby, too. Nine ounces. I have no idea how she did it."

"It's called woman's strength, Tom dear. Ask Yamato about how powerful a woman is," Jubi stated, making Isis and Tom look at Yamato suspiciously.

He gave an agitated look at Jubi before starting. "It was a low blow, Jubi, nothing more. The power of a woman is not playing fair."

"It was fair."

"Anyway," he said, looking at the clock, noting the sun was setting as well. "I gotta go. It was great practice, though."

"Yeah. Glad you finally decided to actually hear the group play the song you wrote for Taichi," Isis said, unaware she was thinking aloud until Mat knocked her fisherman's hat off her head. "What was that for?"

Instead of answering, Mat walked out, letting a heavy sigh fall before he turned to her with red eyes. "Gomen ne."

But Isis just looked at her friend and band mate as he walked out, unsure of what to say. "That's not like him."

"Nothing is like him anymore," was the final thing Jubilee said as she shut the door.

It was past ten when Yamato finally walked into the house, catching a glimpse of Yanni sitting at the window playing with a doll. He reached for the banister, ready to walk up the stairs when a strong hand grasped his long hair, pulling him away.

"You're late, as usual. You said you'd be back before dawn."

The sent of alcohol reached Yamato's nose. It was a bad situation, Yamato knew it was, but he didn't care. He let the person behind him pull his head as far back as it could go before he let out a loud growl.

"Let go of my fucking hair!" He was flung forward, hitting head on the floor; leaving the bruise he got earlier to grow in size. "I said I'd be back before dawn and I am! Did you manage to loose more brain cells in drinking too much or is that just natural to you?"

Before he realized what happened, Yamato was facing the ceiling, his air supply cut off. He smiled as he felt himself trying to struggle as little as possible. /Yeah, go ahead and kill me. After what I did, what I said, I deserve to die. I deserve to die for being a coward. Crack my windpipe. I dare you!/ The smile only widened as he felt tears stinging his eyes, blurring his vision. He decidedly closed them, not wishing to see him leave the world of the living with the vision of the devil. As quickly as he had been stripped of air, he was granted his unstated wish to breathe. He coughed violently, throwing himself to his side.

Lu lay unconscious on the floor, Yanni standing over him with a hardcover book.

"I said, no playing with my Mountain!" she said. She looked at Mat, who had stopped coughing slightly. "Mountain okay?"

"Yeah," he said hoarsely. "I'm fine."

He stood up and awkwardly walked up the stairs, going into Yanni's room rather than his "own." /Mountain, huh? The English definition. How old is she, anyway?/ He set his head down on the highly decorated desk she had. Under all her stuffed animals she had blue stationary, envelopes, and pens, not pencils. "Why does she have these hidden? I don't think she'll mind me borrowing some of it."

He reached to take a sheet of paper from under one of the bears, not caring whether she erupted into the room or not, he was _safe _here, unlike his own. He took a black pen from behind one of the rabbits, hesitating to write at first, but forcing himself to do so after several minutes.

Monday morning:

Hikari woke with a start. Her cell phone was ringing continuously under her pillow.

"Ugh! Who's calling this early?!" she said, running her hands viciously through her hair as she answered it. "What?"

"It's Yamato. Sorry for waking you up so early, but I have something to drop off for Tai."

"Why didn't you wake him up?"

"Because. . . I. . .It's difficult to say, but can you do me a favor?"

Hikari lifted her head from her bed, getting up as she let out a huge sigh. "Sure. What time are you going to come by?"

"I'm in front of the complex. I'm about to go in."

"Yamato, you owe me two"

Hikari hung up before he managed to ask what she meant. She walked to the door, waiting for the knock that was to come. /It's way too early to go to school, so what's with the visit?/ She opened the door, preferring to wait outside than to have her parents wake up by a knock. Yamato looked at her with amused eyes as he stayed in his position, about to knock.

"Must be a telepathic line that wasn't found and severed," he said, shaking his head.

"Yeah," Kari laughed. "Come in, Mat. Don't wait out there. The morning's always cold."

Mat entered, without a single protest, as he reached into his book bag for the envelope with Tai's name written across it, Sunday's date on the top corner.

"I'm not going to stay long. I gotta do stuff."

"So early? What sort of things do you have to do so early in the morning?"

"School work. It's hectic right now."

"I bet. Senior year. Wow. I can't wait until I'm in my last year of high school. Oh, what was that favor you wanted me to do for you?"

He looked at the envelope in his hand, then back at her curious face. He placed it in her hand before letting out a long breath of air.

"Can you give this to Tai? Tell him not to think too much about it."

"Okay, but if he's not supposed to think too much about it, then wouldn't it be more meaningful if you gave it to him yourself? I mean, wouldn't it be more valuable?"

"That's why I can't give it to him. Listen, I got to go. Don't tell him I was here this early, either."

"I'll tell him you slipped it under the door, most likely. I wouldn't want you getting into any trouble, unless I knew you deserved it."

/Wait until you find out, Hikari. Wait until you find out./

He made his way to the door before he turned to her again. "What did you mean by me owing you?"

"You owe me two: One for waking me up and another for me giving Tai the letter. Hence you owe me two. And if you don't leave now, you'll owe me three."

They said their good byes as Yamato exited, walking out of the complex toward school. Hikari looked at the letter, wanting to know what was inside. She shrugged off her feeling, placing the letter on top of her pillow before getting ready to take a shower.

Tai was making his way to the family room, fully dressed and ready to leave for school at any minute. He saw his sister walking toward him.

"Oh, Tai. Yamato left you a letter," she said, handing it to her brother.

"What? He came by? Dumbass left yesterday without saying good-bye and he had the guts to come by this morning without stepping in to say 'hello?' What an asshole."

"He must have slipped it in through a crack in the door. He didn't come in. I found it almost an hour ago. He's not an asshole, either."

"Oh yeah? I wouldn't bet on that," he said sarcastically.

He walked back to his room as Kari shook her head, ignoring what Tai had said.

"Okay, let's see what he said."

Tai opened the letter slowly, gradually seeing how much was written.

Yagami,

This is just my way of saying I'm sorry for everything that happened and everything that is going to happen later on, including for what I am about to say. I know it may be hard to understand exactly what I'm apologizing for, but please take it and forgive me. First off, I'm sorry I yelled at you. It was both uncalled for and rude. I shouldn't have done so, but I was having a bad morning. But, that's no excuse for what I did or said. I wish there was a way to say that today was a mistake, but I can't since it wasn't. I thank you for it, Taichi. You shed some light on a very dark time. But I'm not going to lie to you. It was one of those right-place-at-the-wrong-time things. Sad, isn't it? What happened today shouldn't have happened. Not during this time.

We shouldn't have acted like a couple because we aren't. That was a mistake. It makes it harder on both of us, do you understand?! Why do you think I've been avoiding you? Why do you think I ignored you? This isn't a game I'm playing, Taichi. Look, I thought I could get past you without having a reaction from either you or myself. Believe me when I say I was glad I couldn't. The day would probably have gone bad had you not been there. I probably would have done something stupider than I did.

Taichi, don't remind me of promises we made to each other. I know you saw the trinket you gave me, but I hope that you don't take it as a way of me saying that everything will be fine. I don't know if it will be or not. It's more of a reminder now than a charm. It's harsh, I know, but it's true.

Don't count on me, okay? You can't trust me with my actions right now, Taichi. I feel horrible for being misleading, Tai. I don't know if I did what I did to satisfy the emptiness in me or to remember what was done before. I don't know if it was because of nostalgia. We can't hang out. I think it will make it harder for the both of us and I don't think we can manage a friendship with what's been happening. Just forget about me Tai. Don't worry about me, either. I'm okay. Worry about your own life and your family.

I'm sorry,

Yamato

"Yamato, you sonavabitch!" Tai yelled as he jumped off his bed and launched out the door toward school. His family looked baffled as they saw him run out the door.

"Kari, what was Tai yelling?" his father asked.

"I don't know." /But I think I know what does./

Tai managed to find Yamato standing at the doorway of his classroom, reading a book or his homework, whichever it was. Without warning, Tai gently interrupted Yamato's studying by delivering a stinging blow to his cheek, knocking the boy to the ground.

"Fuck you, your warnings, and what you think, Ishida."

"Any other day I would have let you. But now's not the time. Go away, Taichi," Yamato solemnly replied, standing as he picked up his book.

"No! I want to know what's going on!"

"It's called 'nothing.' Now, leave me alone, Taichi."

"Shit no! Nobody knows you anymore. Hell, I don't know you and we were in a damned relationship for two years."

"The cities of Sodom and Gomorra don't count for damning a relationship between two men or women."

"Cut the crap! You know what I mean."

"And that's why I'm ending this now."

He socked Tai once in the stomach before he picked up his belongings and started to walk away. Tai was following pursuit, holding his stomach.

"Listen to me, you pain in the ass!" Tai yelled. "I don't know what your deal is. Yesterday you act as though everything is fine, then you leave out of nowhere. While I was asleep for cripes sakes! You could have at least woken me up. Do you have any idea how that feels?"

"Shut up, Tai."

"No! Then you come out with what we did was a mistake, then that it wasn't a mistake, but it still shouldn't have happened. Then it's practically a 'see you later, but you won't see me' kind of a thing."

"Exactly, so go away."

"Will you listen?! I don't know what's going on through your head or what you want, but you have to stop fucking around like this. No more secrets, no more complicated messages. Just give it to me straight."

"Fine. You want it straight? We're over, okay? What happened yesterday was a mistake, no matter how much it felt like it was right. We can never be friends because that's all it will lead to between you and me, nothing but mistakes. I don't want to see you ever again, since just the sight of you makes my head hurt. Get out of my life."

:::Author looks at people and smiles:::

All right. I got it out, I hope you guys liked it (especially with how many times I cussed trying to get this posted with "no" problems). Go ahead and yell about what you didn't like. I don't mind, I actually think it's more funny than annoying, unless you predict what I was going to do in your screaming. It's going to get better, anyway. Sonia will hopefully be added soon (I still haven't figured out how she ties into all this). I have to work on her. Oh yeah, if you catch any confusing errors within the reading (i.e. some thoughts that weren't clear) it's not my fault. :::hears someone clear throat::: Oh yeah, Hitome (remember my muse) decided to let someone in since he has some complaining to do. :::Looks behind shoulder::: Taichi.

Tai: Yeah. WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH HAVING YAMATO SAY HE HATES ME AND HAVING HIM IGNORE ME LIKE THAT! I CAN'T BE IGNORED!

Twilightfairy: That's because you can never SHUT UP! Besides, he's doing it for a reason. It's a good reason too, so don't complain to me. Complain to hitome.

:::Hitome holds up sign::: I had nothing to do with it, Tai. I only encouraged.

Tai: LIAR! :::looks at Twilightfairy::: Why isn't she talking?

Twilightfairy: Huh? Oh, that's for falling asleep instead of helping me study for my Japanese test that's coming soon. She's been helping me with the fic rather than what I need to pass college.

Tai: Nice. Well, I DON'T LIKE IT! :::Starts with teary face that reminds muse and author of Suichi Shindou (Gravitation)::: I want my Yamato back.

Twilightfairy: :::throws Tai into closet::: Well now that my ramblings have taken about a page and I have to get Tai to leave me alone, so I say good bye and good night (Since it's 9:25 pm in California). Wait, I want to say it in Japanese. Oyasuminasai!

Translation:

Baka means stupid, idiot, fool

Gomen ne means forgive me or I'm sorry.

Kono yaro means (according to online source) motherfucker. If it isn't, please correct me.

Tadaima means I'm home

Ohayoo/ohayoo gozaimasu means good morning. I know I didn't add the other, but it's good practice for my Japanese class.

For those of you that don't know, or those of you that have the joke fly right over your heads or those of you that never thought about it before,Yama in Japanese does mean mountain.


	8. Intermission 2

**Intermission # 2**

Fairyoftwilight: Currently, I have supreme writer's block. I can't get out of it, I have classes to worry about, and I have midterms to study for :::cries::: So, for today's intermission (remember what my definition for intermission was? Look in Intermission #1), I'm doing the unthinkable. I'm going to let Hitome take control :::Shudders::: and she can do whatever she wants, so long as it pertains to the story. ::Looks at where muse should be::: DO YOU HEAR THAT HITOME?! SO LONG AS IT PERTAINS TO THE STORY! YOU HAVE LIMITS! ::looks at reader::: Please do enjoy yourself. :::Looks at many textbooks. Looks at hiragana worksheet and three essays that must be written::: Must learn all hiragana for test and must write three essays before Saturday night. Okay..........:::Jumps headfirst into wall:::

Hitome: Hi! Remember me?! I'm the "damned muse that takes super long breaks" as twilightfairy said earlier in her rantings in chapter 2. Yeah, well, I'm in charge today! The author of Silence in Shame has finally cracked by over studying when she should have had all her studying completed on the weekends, especially since she has no job to worry about yet.

Twilight: You're one to talk, you're the one that's always taking off when I need you the most! I should get Gesue (that's pronounced jesh-u-eh) to help me! He's more active than you!

Hitome: That worthless male muse you have, oh please. Everyone knows female muses are the best and that I'm better than any of the ones that came before I was officially named.

Twilight: Gesue is at least helping me understand "kurasu de nihongo dake hanashite kudasai."

Hitome: you don't even know if you said it right.

Twilight: If I don't, then you don't since you're learning with me! Now, shush, I have to go back to studying. "After a month had passed and Calles had reaped the full benefit of his eulogies, Ambassador Daniels...."

Hitome: Anyway, while she's studying. . . I doooooooooooooo-not apologize in that she has writer's block. Currently both of us muses also have writer's block with the author, which causes zero help, but since there are about 7 or 8 other fictional pieces currently being worked on (including a hetero "love" fanfic). With that said, I am glad to have control of intermission #2 :::enter lightning flare and horror music while hitome looks around confused::: okay? That was weird. Anyway, I was going to do an interview with the characters, but there was a bit of a problem with that :::looks 2 Yama and Tai ripping each other apart::: so instead I decided to throw a little party.

:::Opens big brown door that appeared out of nowhere:::

Welcome to my backyard, everybody! As you can see, it is filled with trees, flowers, soft grass, and :::loud music of reader's choice in background::: a live band, free of charge. To the left there's a table filled with food (chips, chicken, salads, etc... name it, it's there people! Oo, carne asada!) and to the right, the drinks, a variety thanks to many imaginations. This, dear readers, is my domain. Everyone is here, except Lu. He had to work and said he couldn't make it. Oh, and Sonia. She may come later, though.

Now that I'm in the big circle of people, I can begin writing like whatever.

"Welcome to the party!"

"HITOME!"

I look around the party guests until I see—

"Minako!" :::Hugs::: "How have you been?! Tell me, have you :::whisper, whisper, whisper:::?"

Minako looks coolly at me, fighting the-oh so irresistibly clichéd blush! "No. I haven't really found the proper artist."

"Proper or right?"

"Oh, proper for sure. I found lots of good artists that were right, but I'm looking for one to help break the boundaries and make a perfect match."

"Look no further! I found your girl!"

"Nani?!" (1)

I drag her to the Mexican girl wearing a brown long-sleeve shirt, blue jeans, and sandals. Her dark bwon hair is in two braids reaching midback. It's Sonia everyone!

"Sonia, Darling!"

"Hello Hitome! Que onda?" (2)

"Tu sabes. Meet Minako. :::Shakes hands::: She's a friend of Tai's little sister, Hikari. She's looking for a proper artist. Can you help her?" (3)

"Of course."

"Great. Let me go around, then, and find others."

Well, I walk around for a bit, greeting some people from various stories and etc. . . until I hear arguing. My first thought: Not again.

"I hate you!" Taichi.

"I hate you more!" Yamato.

"I hate you more than that!" Figures.

"I hate you more than that and more!"

"I hate you even more than you hate me!" Death glares.

I pop up between them and bop them both very lightly with my metal bat that appears when I need it. "Taichi? Yamato? YOU GUYS LOVE EACH OTHER OR I'LL DESTROY YOU BOTH FOR GOOD!"

Tai looks at Yamato with surprise. "You really love me?"

Great he misinterpreted what I said, stupid ass.

"What do you think you doufus?!" Yamato yelled, throwing his arms around Taichi, kissing him.

Now satisfied with seeing them in each other's arm, I leave and head toward Daisuke and Takeru, wanting to see why they were laughing, hoping to catch a couple of laughs myself.

"So," Daisuke started, "then I said 'later, sora loser!' and she left crying."

He laughed

"Really?" I said. "I recall you getting smacked by a soccer ball. But words are funny. Especially when they sound like other things."

"Ooh, ooh, ooh," he replied, looking and sounding like the monkey boy he is. "I have the perfect one, I have perfect one! Hey, Ken!"

Ken looked over after getting something to drink. He headed over to us, excusing himself from the conversation he was having with Bobby, another character.

"Yes?" he asked politely once he arrived :::smiles:::

"'Arigatou' wa supeingo de nan to iimasu ka?" I asked. It translates to "How do you say 'arigatou' in Spanish?" if my translation is right.

"'arigatou' wa supiengo de 'gracias' imasu," he replied doing the unnecessary roll of the tongue, making it sound like "Grrrracias." By the way, he answered "In Spanish you 'arigatou' is said 'gracias.'" (Yay, self translated!)

"Okay, I got it!" Daisuke said, drawing in a deep breath. "Grassy-ass! Aaaaaaaahhhhhh hahahahahaha!"

Ken looked at me worried, as if he'd done something wrong. I just shook my head.

"Sugar," Takeru said. "He's now on a make-it-sound-like phase. Watch. Hey, Daisuke. Onomonapia."

"I don't wanna pee-ah! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Chigaimasu." (4)

"Chingado, man!" Sonia piped in, getting me to laugh and "What the hell are you guys up to?" (5)

"Nothing but a springing cat on a bed of springs during spring in the spring while we spring into the spring," I said, getting confused looks from all of them except Sonia and Ken. (6)

"With nothing worth noting," Ken said.

"But Queen with the killer queen of Queens!" (7)

By this time, the digidestined and several more characters gathered around us, adding to the word play.

"Another funny one," Kari continued, after figuring out what we were doing. "Hitome. Hit Tony!"

"No, no, no," I said. "Hikari. Hic, Kari. It's punch drunk!"

"No hay otra asi!" Sonia laughed. "Wait, shitsurei shimashita. Ready? Shit Ray! She man sitta!" (8)(9)

"Ohhhhhh, that's sounds tempting!" Daisuke rang.

"Hentai," she retorted.

"Hen tie! It's a chicken coop!"

Minako gave an evil glare. "Yaoi."

The group looked at her confused until she stood in the center, grabbing her butt. "YAOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

We roared in laughter. "Wait, I got another. Yamato."

Yamato gave her an evil glare."

"Watch. Wait, it won't work, nevermind. He doesn't have Etemon's voice for it."

"Wadda ya mean?" Mat asked.

"Season 1 with the crests. That digimon would be perfect for it. Ya, ma-toe. But he's not here to do it."

"Season 1? Oh! Before the digidestined. . .with armor digivolving. That proves nothing. I had a kickass band in season two, which is now more kickass!"

"It better be!" Isis jumped out of nowhere and wrung her arms around Yamato's neck. "It damned well be before I choke you!"

Jubilee appeared next, smiling nervously at Isis while Tom got booze. . . I mean, drinks for the three of them.

"Isis, a lot happened in the TV series that never happened in the fic, so stop choking him. I'm sure still needs him.

"For what?" she asked innocently, still strangling Mat. "Rabid-bunny sex?"

"Yes."

Isis thought for a few more seconds. "Sounds fair." She let Yamato, who was now a slight red color, go. "Well, get to it. I wanna see."

"Yamto looked at Tai, who had an expression to kill. "No rabid-bunny sex unless you really want to do it in front of her, I swear!"

"Oh, I know that, but I just remembered you dated Sora!"

"What?!" Yamato, Isis, and Jubilee peeped.

I, on the other hand, walked up to them in deep thought :::Author snickers::: Shut up, Twilight, study for Japanese and history midterm or something! Anyway, I stood there, the other kids around me, waiting in anticipation of my super smart remark (great I sound like Serena).

"Yeah, he dated Sora," I said, confirming Isis and Jubilee's worst nightmares.

"We knew it was too good to be true," they said in unison.

"And you said you loved me," Tai said, vicously.

"Hated," Yama said, eyes now a deep shade of lethal red. "And if I remember clearly, you had a crush on her! And you tried to date her too!"

"Well," Tai snapped out. "Myeah!"

"Ah ha! A confession!"

"Oh yeah! Well at least I didn't get nervous when Yuri was mentioned."

"Oh, yeah right! What about that girl in France? Huh?! You were all over her! What was her name?"

"Wait," Tai said calmly, looking nonchalantly. "Does that make this fic a slash, then?"

"I guess so," Yamato answered.

He looked at me, while I was looking at my dictionary of internet terms. "Can't find it."

Ken then stepped up looking as handsome as ever before he leaned over to Yamato, kissing him full in the lips, making almost everyone's mouth drop, including my own. Isis and Jubilee stared, anticipating the next move.

"Jubi? Jubi darling, get the video camera," Isis said, taking pictures with the hidden camera she had.

Ken pulled away slowly, gazing into Yamato's confused yet willing eyes. "If this is a slash, I want to do more with you," he said. His gaze shifted to Taichi, his surprise making Ken smile. "And more with you." His gaze drifted to Koushiro. "And you."

Koushiro looked unsure and terrified as he grabbed Jou, trying to hide behind him. "This isn't the time to do this Ken!"

"On the contrary, this is the perfect time, especially since it is intermission.

He moved toward Jou and Koushiro as Jubilee popped up with the video camera.

"What'd I miss?! What'd I miss?!" she asked Isis, starting to record the actions taking place.

"Ken is trying to seduce Koushiro. He just said he wanted to do more with Tai and Matty-boy. Koushiro's hiding behind Jou."

The girls looked at each other before chanting: "Please drag Jou in, please drag Jou in!"

Tai looked at Yamato with a questioning expression. "Wanan help?"

"Sure. Let's get something for fun."

Umm, things are getting out of hand here. :::looks behind her:::

Tai busied himself with passionately kissing Koushiro, while tying this hands together. Koushiro tried his best to resist the other brunette. Yamato, on the other hand, was removing Ken's shirt, kissing him passionately. He was busying himself, tying the young man's hands behind his back, Ken letting him do what he wanted.

Hitomi: Yes, as you can see, **OUT OF HAND, **so I'll leave it at that. :::looks at Fairyoftwilight:::

Twilight: I said I'd let you have control so long as it was related to the fic! :::Looks at many characters running away screaming while several girls stay. Hitome gives pleading stare::: Fine! Go watch them have sex, and one get raped, I'll take us out.

Anyway, I hope to get out of writer's block soon :::Looks at workload for History and Japanese classes::: Damn! Well, I decided to have a monthly deadline (hopefully), whether it be the actual story or intermission. I love and hate the way I ended on the previous chapter now that I have writer's block, but it was good! Um, midterms, yes, crap! Um, if anything, I won't let Hitome take over the next intermission. It will be Gesue :::Looks at profile::: Yeah, Gesue. Unless you guys want the little thing Hitome went to see happen, then be my guest.

:::Looks over story::: Great, I have translations. Okay.

1"Nani?!": What?

2 Que onda?: Sorta like "What's up?" or "How's it going?"

3 Tu sabes: You know

4"Chigaimasu.": taken from "iie, Chigaimasu" which means "You are mistaken," according to my Japanese professor

5 Chingado: The Mexican way of saying "Shit" or "Fuck"

6 "Nothing but a springing cat on a bed of springs during spring in the spring while we spring into the spring,": This means nothing, but ramblings. But it is a homogyn or something like that.

7. "But Queen with the killer queen of Queens!": The first Queen is the band called Queen, the "Killer Queen" is a song of theirs, the last Queens is Queens, New York, U.S.A.

8 "No hay otra asi!": There's no other like it.

9 shitsurei shimashita: this is a piece of "doomo shitsurei shimashita," which my professor said it meant "I'm extremely sorry" or something like that.

Oh yeah, the characters that played with the words didn't mean anything by what they said. It was just poking fun at the way they sound. By the way, Gracias, does sound like "grassy-ass" if mispronounced properly :::Smiles:::

Hitome: Arigatou, gracias, merci, thank you for reading! And recommend another intermission with me as the controller! :::goes back to looking at crazy boys:::

10/15/04


	9. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Don't own it, will never own it, but just make fun of it.

Hitomi: Hello, Hitomi here! I'm sure you guys will like this chapter to no end. We attempted a new beginning four times before we settled for this. We were planning on having this out by the holidays, but :::looks half-sleeping Fiary o' twilight::: she went through a month of study hell, which is now continuing with eurocentrism and some other stuff (which is now going to be over). I admit I pushed her some, too. We got out like three or four stories on Fictionpress (author name there is Paxtsunamidragon) in November and now she wants to continue each and every one of them, even if people made fun of a character named Lestat. Well, without further ado, here is Chapter 7, with a masochistic Yamato! And :::Evil laugh::: You shall see. 

Fairyoftwilight: :::half asleep::: Hey, if you get confused with some of the things in this like words, go to the end, there are translations.

Extra:

("text") is thoughts

**123!** Is a scene break, in other words, next scene, jump to location, etc….etc……etc…..

**Silence in Shame  
Chapter 7**

**By Fairyoftwilight**

"Sheesh! How many quizzes can teachers give during a week?!"

Saturday came not to soon for the brunette that fell on his bed, utterly exhausted from the week's mishaps and surprises. He quickly closed his eyes, hoping to get some sleep before his mother came home to make dinner. Hikari stepped into the room not long after Taichi collapsed onto his bed. She walked up to his calm form slowly before jumping on top of him, tickling his sides. He shot up as quickly as he could, throwing his sister off as quickly as she had gotten on, shooting her the look of death.

"Why don't you act like a normal sister?" he asked, an evil smile on his face.

"Why don't you sulk like a normal brother?"

"I'm not sulking!" he said, fiddling with his school jacket, which he had forgotten to take off.

"Looks like sulking to me."

He stopped what he was doing and walked out of his room to the living room, taking off the school jacket in the process. He sat on the floor, debating whether or not to turn on the TV or to just lie back and stare at the ceiling, neither of which seemed interesting at the moment.

"You have too much on your mind," Kari said. There was no doubt on his mind that she also grabbed his jacket from where he threw it. "You need to relax somehow. There's a gig tonight."

"Is Ishida's band playing?" he asked, ruefully.

"No. If you have any problems with him, don't take it out on me, you got it? Anyway, a few good bands are playing. Hojo's band is playing."

"Who's?"

"Hojo, the guy that you tried to kill the last time."

Tai thought for a few seconds before he recalled the guy he wanted to drop down a hill when he saw him kiss Kari a few months before.

"Oh, him," he said like the guy was the most disgusting thing in the world. "And you're trying to get me to come with you, because?"

"It's a surprise."

Tai stood up from where he was sitting, ready to advance in any attack necessary to get his sister to speak.

"Okay!" she yelled, knowing what was coming. "Don't do that. Mom doesn't want me to go alone. That and she needs some alone time with Dad, if you know what I mean."

Tai's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "What?! Dude, I don't want to think about Mom and Dad—Ah! I'll go to the gig!"

"Good. Now that you made your oath, I lied. But you got two hours to get ready."

"Two hours?"

The two hours that Hikari had given Tai to get ready passed by quickly, but the older brunette had just dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a black long-sleeve sweater, ready before his sister, who was, without a doubt, plotting something. Given that he had extra time, he had locked himself in the room, denying her any entry if she decided to attack him again.

"Tai, you ready?" Hikari finally asked, tapping her foot impatiently from where she stood, right outside the door.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, opening the door. "I'm—what the hell are you wearing?"

He looked at his sister like she was insane. She had a spaghetti strap tank-top on, v-neck, cut off at the end, making it fluff out, a skirt with patches in place where the holes were, shredded nylons and plain converse on. Her hair was up as far as it would go, since it was still short, and she had light make-up on.

"Clothes," she said, looking down at what she was wearing. "It's fine. It's going to get hot in the lounge, anyway. And I am taking a sweater, before you ask."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"So what? We're running late, let's go."

"And whose fault is that?" he asked as he followed his sister out the door.

But since Tai didn't want his sister to freeze half-to-death, or get the wrong attention, seeing as she was his sister and if any guy were to look at her the wrong way, he'd kick them right into the middle of next week, decided to get a taxi. Kari, on the other hand, could care less whether or not they rode by taxi. It would only get them to their destination quicker and most likely lift Tai's spirits. ("I just hope Yamato's band isn't playing tonight") she thought.

They were nearly to their destination before Kari remembered something she was supposed to mention before.

"Oh!" she said, getting not only Tai's attention, but also the driver's.

"Is everything okay there, miss?" he asked politely.

"Oh," she said, giving him an embarrassed smile. "Everything is fine. I just remembered something." She turned to her brother and gave him the most serious look she could gather in her liveliness. "Okay, Tai. I don't want you to give Hojo any bad looks, or any quick judgments. Get to know him, then figure out if you don't like him."

"Does that mean I can't smack him if he touches you?"

"Ye—you can only smack him if it's inappropriate. And by that I mean, if you know that I don't want to be touched in a particular fashion, not for any little thing, Tai."

"Fine, fine, only if he grabs you the wrong way. But I'll let you know you just ruined my entire evening."

"But I had to save mine."

They had finally arrived to The Lounge. And after quickly paying the taxi driver, Tai walked next to his sister, looking for a spot to sit once inside and watching the band that was currently playing. Not long after they found a spot, Tai was attacked by what he could only describe as an octopus woman with super suckers!

"Tye-Die!"

He quickly turned around, spotting his little Mexican friend. "Sonia!" he yelled, wrapping his arms around her, hugging her as tightly as she did to him.

"Hmm," she said, pushing him away and poking his side. "Oye, estas flaco. Que paso?"

"What? Sonia, my Spanish is limited."

"I said, that your skinny and you know the second half."

"Yeah, 'what happened?' Well, you know that school limits your eating time."

"Mmhmm, that's called college, university and eating while studying."

"Okay, if I tell you…wait a minute. When did you get here?"

"Yesterday night. I called your cell number, but it was turned off and I saw someone online with your SN, so I I.M.ed you but the person who wrote back said you were asleep."

Tai turned to his sister, who was busy talking with a boy that had— (" Screw the description! Mom was right, he's hot!")

"Tai, stop ogling over Hikari's boyfriend. You have one of your own."

"You mean had," he said before he could stop himself. Sonia had a surprised look on her face, rather than the destructive one Tai thought she would have.

"What happened?"

"I have no idea. One minute I'm back home and everything is fine, then he's saying he's sorry and says we're through. Later he acts like everything is fine, gets a mood swing, gives me a confusing letter, then tells me to get out of his life. I haven't seen him in about a week."

"I wouldn't be that cold."

"Yeah, you come from a hot place."

"No, hell doesn't count."

He laughed, and glad she got a laugh out of him, she was ready to really answer his question. "You know I'm wasting the money I had saved for two weeks after the spring classes, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure that my mom would let you stay at our home. Just help out a little, even if she doesn't ask for it."

"Help how?"

"Keep me and Kari out of the house as long as possible."

She laughed, knowing full well that he wouldn't make her do such a thing after she already booked a hotel. She took a seat next to Hikari, who was already seated at a table with four chairs. Tai gave a quick look at Hojo, again, wondering if the other thing his mom said was true.

"Hello," Hojo said, placing his hand out. "I'm Hojo Matoh. I'm glad to finally meet you, Taichi."

"Same here," Tai said, shaking his hand in response.

"I hope you enjoyed the surprise Hikari had in store for you."

Tai looked at Sonia, who only smiled before pushing one of her braids behind her. "Hai. So Hojo, what's your band's name?"

"Something About Something."

"Interesting."

Hikari laughed, patting Hojo's shoulder in a friendly fashion. "It's a temporary name. They haven't reached a total agreement yet. It's better than just being called Something."

"No, it's better than That Band."

"Yes," Hojo said, standing. "Sorry to leave you so quickly, but Zaza just waved at me. I'm about to play, but I will be back as soon as we're done putting the equipment back in the van after our set is over."

He quickly walked toward someone with green hair, no doubt his friend Zaza while Tai's gaze continued to look.

"Tai," Kari said, a smile on her lips as her brother looked at her. "He's bisexual, but I'm not sharing."

"You didn't tell me he was that cute. How old is he?"

"High school sophomore. I met him at a gig like this when I went with Sora."

Across the way, unbeknownst to Tai and his little group entered one of the bands that had just finished their set. One of them was trying to pull away, to no avail, from a girl that was dressed in glitter, nearly from head to foot. She had half her hair down and the rest was pulled back by two braids sprayed with temporary hair-dye. The other two members were just laughing as they watched the struggle ensue.

"Isis, don't you think he's had enough for one evening?" Jubilee asked.

"God, no. He hasn't broken out of his little trance. Besides we have another gig in two weeks. It is my duty to break him out of this little predicament if it kills me!"

"Which it might if you don't let me go!"

"Sheesh, grouchy," she said letting him go abruptly, which made him run into the drummer.

"Careful, Yamato," Tom said. "She's in fairy mode. She'll most likely make you beg for mercy."

"She doesn't get the fact that I have to go, that's what it is."

Tom laughed, looking at the stage before poking Jubilee on her shoulder. "Jubi, Hojo's band is about to play."

"Ah, my little protégée. Let's see if he's improved."

"Doubtful, my dear," Isis said, finally distracted.

Yamato took this chance to sit down as far from Isis as possible. If she decided at all to attack, now would be the most opportune time, since he was starting to fall asleep, even with Hojo's quick playing. Isis didn't see it as an opportune time, though when she saw him in his position. Instead she sat down next to him and put an arm around his shoulders.

"If you were that tired, then why didn't you say so?!" she yelled above the music.

Yamato opened his eyes and shrugged, smiling slightly before putting his head against her shoulder. But rather than to let this moment go to waste, Jubilee brought out her camera and took a quick picture, instantly waking Yamato up.

"And if you make any grouchy comments, I'll load it onto my computer and put it in my website, you hear me, Yamato?" she said, quickly. She turned back to Hojo's band, starting a little dance with Tom.

"She's lucky I like her," Yamato said, not bothering to go back to his previous position.

It didn't take long for Sonia to spot the blonde and his little oddly dressed friend. She shot up, quickly and walked over to them, making Tai and Kari follow. She poked Isis's side a little before it turned into a squeal contest between the two.

"What are you doing here?!" Isis said.

"Came to visit Tai."

Tai didn't bother to listen to their little conversation, since he soon spotted the blonde, who didn't bother to look at him. He avoided contact until Kari stepped between them and forced them both to look at her. She had a look like she was just about to kill them both before she smiled at them.

"Tai, Yama, please don't act like this tonight. We have reunions happening like there's no tomorrow."

"Maybe there won't be a tomorrow unless he leaves!" they yelled simultaneously. They growled at one another before looking away, each thinking how much joy they would get to rip the other's heart out and give it a tight squeeze before returning it to its correct body.

Kari, deciding to step out of her usual character, smacked them both, deciding it was what they both needed before walking up to Jubilee and Tom to say her hellos. Tai and Mat, on the other hand, sat down after Sonia and Isis took their seats in between them to avoid an all-out war. Even with that distance between them, neither could avoid the damned pang in their hearts, especially Yamato, who felt more than guilt. And though he wanted to have a long talk with Tai about everything, there was no avoiding what he had said.

Tai didn't like the atmosphere. He let out a heavy sigh before standing and offering Yamato his hand. Mat only looked at it, waiting to get struck, hoping to get struck, since that's what he felt he needed and there was no one better to get it from than the person he loved more in the world. He looked past Tai to where Hojo was, half-watching while singing his heart out, much like Yamato had done several months before anything went wrong. He looked back at Tai who was still in the same position.

"What?" Yamato asked as steely as he could muster of the coldness that developed.

"Look, let's talk. I don't like this and I know you don't either."

"Get out of my face, Yagami."

"Well, fuck you too, Ishida."

"You know what Tai, there are times I wish you were still in Australia."

"So what? You could find more secrets to keep from me or more ways for you to tell me to die?"

Sonia couldn't help but to overhear the words the two were saying while Isis was trying to explain what she had been doing the past year. She excused herself from the conversation briefly before turning to Tai and Yamato.

"All right, little boys," she said, wrapping her arms around both of them. "You guys talk outside before I rip both your heads off. Tai, you know better than to get me mad. Blonde Bishonen, you will learn to fear me."

Tai let out a weak smile, and a laugh just as weak before stepping out of Sonia's innocent looking embrace. Yamato looked confused before Tai pulled him away from Sonia. Isis only gave them the creepiest smile they ever saw in their lives.

They went outside where they could talk in private, as was suggested by Sonia. The most Mat could come up with, as topic for conversation, was Sonia, who he still hadn't been introduced to.

"Um, Tai?" he asked, unsure if the brunette would even answer. "Who was that?"

"The scary, sweet person? That was the friend I made in Australia. Her name is Sonia. She's as harsh as she sounds. But she's defensive about people, too. You don't want to make her mad. I've seen her mad and it's a scary, horror flick kind of thing."

"Oh. Something tells me she isn't very forgiving."

"She is forgiving. But it takes her a while to calm down if you really get her peeved at you."

"I bet it does."

Another deadly silence overtook them. Neither wanted to say anything since it could be mistaken as an attack. Finally it was too much. Tai leaned his body against the wall and put his hands behind his head as a temporary pillow.

"Okay, since we're obviously going to kill each other sooner or later, what hasn't gone wrong?" he asked the blonde across from him.

"What? You want me to tell you those things so they can get fucked up, too?"

Tai held back the growl that he wanted to unleash and instead settled for a harsh exhale of breath. "I bet you can make that happen whether or not you tell me."

Yamato let out a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, I'm a screw up. I got that down, already. You don't have to remind me."

"That wasn't what I meant. You know that for a fact."

"Really? I thought you would have wanted to remind me of the pain in the ass I was and still am."

"Stop it. I know you're acting like an asshole, a goddamned real fucked up asshole. Only one would tell a friend they've had for over five years to get out of their lives."

Yamato couldn't help but to turn his back to Tai. Maybe it was true that he was acting like an asshole, but it still didn't change the fact that he was one.

"No response to that?" Tai asked sorely, but he was glad that Mat couldn't respond. It meant there would be no heated words between them and this conversation might end in peace.

"None," Yamato said passively. "You're right. I'm acting like an asshole, one that's really fucked up. But it's for your own damned protection. You wouldn't understand. I doubt you ever will until you're put in the situation I am."

"Then tell me what it is!"

"If I do, then we're all screwed. You, me, our families, our lives, all of it goes down the drain. You want that?"

"Listen to me: I don't care what the hell the consequences are, just tell me why you're acting like this. It's like you don't care how many people you hurt as long as they get away from you. I don't care if you hurt me anymore! Just tell me so at least Takeru will know and he can stop trying to reach you. So we'll all just leave you alone, just like you want it."

Yamato walked up to the other, putting his hands on either side of Tai and kissed him deeply. Tai tried his hardest not to respond, but found it rather hard to actually do so. He pulled his hands out from where they had been all this time, but Yamato pinned them above his head. He slipped his free hand inside Tai's jeans and gripped his balls tightly. Tai squeaked, but Yamato wouldn't let him pull away as his grip tightened. He finally pulled away, looking into Tai's deadly eyes. He leaned to Tai's ear, licking it lightly.

"Let me own this," he said, gripping Tai's spheres tighter, "and then I'll tell you all you want to know."

"Be your whore and get answers? What the fuck, Yamato?! Let me go!"

("Sorry, Tai, but it's the only way I'll know you will stay away from me. I have to make you hate me.")

"I can turn you around right now and rape you, claim you, make you mine. No one else can have you, but me, only if you do want the answers, got it?" Yamato let Tai go and took his hand out of his pants, waiting for the answer he knew would come.

They stood looking at one another, Tai's face turning red with anger and Yamato's as passive as ever.

"Fuck you, Yamato. Fuck you."

Tai started to walk away, but Yamato turned him for a quick kiss before saying "You only hurt the ones you love, right, Taichi?"

Tai resisted punching the blonde as he walked back inside the lounge, finding that Hojo had joined the group, as well as Jubilee and Tom. He couldn't help it when he leaned over to Sonia, who was the closest, and hid his face in her shoulder, holding in the scream he wanted to let out. He didn't shed tears, though, he was too angry to do so. ("Molested and attempted bribery, not helping him in the path to get into heaven, that dick-headed loser!")

"Tai, sweetie?" she asked, rubbing his back. "Was it that blonde boy? It was the blonde boy. I'm gonna kill him for hurting Tai. Where'd he go?!"

She was about to shoot up, when Isis stopped her, laughing a little.

"She's nice, really, you guys," she said to the others, who looked utterly terrified. "Sonia, dear, allow me to explain the situation with Yamato as best as a person can. He's gone from a mellow, cool, funny person to a conserved, solemn, touchy person in two months flat. He's very moody. Something's wrong and he won't talk. We've tried, but the most we are able to do is not leave him alone."

"Someone be nice enough to get me a drink, anything," Tai said, lifting his head, looking better.

**123!**

Yamato entered the house, his body reacting shamelessly against his will. His breathing was quick, but he knew what was going on. He just couldn't make his brain listen to him. It needed a form of stimulant, whether or not Yamato wanted it himself. ("Stop, I don't want to do this.")

Als turned away from the footage she was looking at on the TV, the previous thing she had recorded with Yamato and Lu.

"You're late, Yamato," she said, coolly. "I hope you know this means punishment."

Yamato glared at Als before he viciously pulled Lu up the stairs. She ran after them quickly, unsure of what was happening. Yamato looked at her as he pulled off his clothes, a minor erection poking from his pants, wanting to be released and touched so it could grow and finally expel what was inside. He turned to where Als had been standing, obviously eager to see what was happening.

"You, you fucking whore, stay out of this."

Yamato turned his attention toward Lu, who was starting to get rough by the second.

"Tie me, fuck me, do what ever the hell you want, just give me pain. That's all I fucking want. Got it?"

"Who's running the show?" Lu asked as he reached for the blond, slamming him against the wall, getting ready for anything his mind could come up with.

**123!**

The incidents following the lounge gig passed with not much trouble. For the majority of the rest of the weekend, Sonia had dragged Tai around everywhere he knew, along with Hojo and Kari, both of who stood by to watch the entertainment. By he end of the day, all Tai could do was collapse onto his bed, barely remembering that he had homework to finish. He stayed up most of the night attempting to finish whatever he could, while he could, before giving up.

Yamato, on the other hand, spent most of the day in Yanni's room, listening to whatever she was playing and saying, even though he didn't understand half of it. His memories of the previous night were crystal clear. But his actions after he had left the gig unannounced to his friends left him with a bigger hole than anything else.

Although he had loved it, the feel of it, the absolute feeling that he did truly deserve what had been happening to him these past few months, he hated it just the same. It was only his way of making it up to Tai for being like Lu. No, not like Lu, like Als.

That bitch also got involved, touching him while Lu rammed into him. But whether or not he tried to stop her was out of the question. His hands were tied securely above him, leaving him as defenseless as he could have been. It had gone on all throughout the night. They had beat him with whatever was at their disposal, used many sex toys, cut him. Lu had those eyes that he wanted to strike him with a red-hot poker, but he didn't. Instead Als had heated one of the metal springs she usually had lying around with a lighter and made very strange looking flowers on his shoulder, his hip and right below his belly button. After that, she had toyed with his manhood; slowly rubbing her fingers up and down the erection he didn't have control of, licking it just as slowly. She stopped only when Lu claimed rights over him, the initial right to do as he pleased. She had stepped back and watched, only occasionally moving to Yamato to take pictures of his face and at some of what they were doing, continuously telling him that he knew loved being in their hands and that it was proof.

They had finally let him go that morning. He was in a world of pain, but he didn't care. He had only made it to his room to get spare clothes (not even bothering to clean himself) before stumbling to Yanni's room, asking for entrance. Of course she had given it or that wouldn't have been where he found himself when he did wake from the two-hours of sleep he managed to get. He had managed to take care of a few injuries before lying back onto the bed, thanking Yanni for allowing him to stay in her room.

He was lying on his belly as she played the William Tell Overture by Rossini and created a make shift race between her dolls by flinging them across the room, playing announcer the whole time. Even with how he felt, Yamato still couldn't help but laugh when one of her dolls "failed" at completing the race and the anger that went into her elongated speech on how she was meant to be championship racer of the doll kingdom.

That following school day didn't go by as smoothly either. Tai decided to skip the whole day, managing to convince his mother that he didn't feel that well and if he went to school he would surely throw up due to stress and lack of relaxation.

Yamato on the other hand tried to walk to his school as quickly as he could, but the pain trailing down his back, satisfying as he still believed it was, would not allow him to do so. By the time he had reached the campus, the late bell rang. He walked past the campus, grateful that the streets were empty and that it had been silent, more or less, until—

"Ya-maaaaaaaaaaaaa-tooooooooooo!"

He was nearly tackled down by Isis as he turned to see where she was coming from. She wrung her hands about his neck and swung around. She would have dropped them both had she not done so several times in the past, causing her to become an expert in avoiding such unpleasantness as falling. But she still managed to show absolutely no mercy in her actions.

"Hello, Matty-boy."

"What the hell, Isis?!" he coughed out, holding his throat.

"Well, I saw you walking too gloomily, I just thought you needed a nice girl-like hug to cheer you up."

"What kind of hug was that?! You nearly choked me!"

"I said a girl-like hug and girls are known to be violent in the most awkward and affectionate ways," she beamed. "Anyway, school was two blocks that way," she continued, pointing behind her. Yamato struggled to walk toward his unknown destination, dragging Isis along. "What do you think you're doing out of class Mr. Punctual? And where do you think you're going?"

"Trying to beat the snail ahead of me. And as to where: no where, anywhere, somewhere."

"Ohhhhh! Hooky! All right! Can I join?" she asked, letting go, standing in front of him.

"If your parents won't kill you."

"What about yours?"

"I go to school everyday. I'm always on time, even to gigs. So if your parents are going to grill you, go to school," he said quickly and tiredly.

"You look so run down. I told you you're a drill sergeant from hell, but would you listen to me? No!"

"I'm not a drill sergeant!"

"You are!"

He kept his gaze forward, letting out a slight sigh. She lost a bit of her smile looking at him, but decided to change the subject to something far worse and appealing for her, since she wanted to know.

"So what happened with Taichi?"

"It's none of your business."

"Sheesh, touchy, aren't we?"

"Sorry, Isis."

"A simple sorry won't cut it. I want a full explanation, Yamato."

He stopped walking abruptly. Fortunately it was a stop signal, not letting him cross. He turned to his friend, who looked like a pixie today, rather than a fairy, in a schoolgirl uniform.

"Please drop it, Isis. I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. I'll drop it because I don't want to press on it and make you really withdrawn. So, where do you want to go?" she asked, wrapping her arm around his as they crossed the street.

"Anywhere but school. I'm not up to paying attention to Whitman's lectures today."

"How about my place?"

"Parents?"

"Work."

"Your place it is."

**123!**

They made it to Isis's house within no. Once they entered, Shrew jumped on Yamato like he was an oversized doggy-treat, licking his face to no end.

"She must really like you," Isis said, taking off her shoes and dumping her backpack next to them. "Maybe I should give her to you."

"God no," Yamato said, putting the dog down as he took off his shoes. "She'd suffocate me by the end of a week."

Isis laughed as she shoed her dog away. A thought had only just struck Yamato as he saw Isis's family photo on the table and a mug of hot coffee on the table next to a newspaper.

"Hey, isn't your dad supposed to be working?"

He looked at Isis, who looked ready to kill before regretting he had even spoken.

"He disgraced my family," she began. "He abandoned my mother and myself for his own greedy love of women. He has brought us shame and misfortune. His name will always bring us dishonor. It is unforgivable and he will forever remain the unforgiven."

"Whoa," Yamato said, dumbfounded. "Um, sorry I asked."

Isis couldn't hold back her laughter, gripping her stomach from the mad rush. "Yama, you're too easy. Oh God. Jeez, man. He died when I was two. Mom won't tell me of what or how, but I don't remember the guy. I wonder how I would have been had he lived, though."

"Sane, for one thing," Yamato said, dryly as he lowered himself to the open floor.

Isis came over and bopped him over the head with the first magazine she found. He gave her a deadly glare as he stared at her smiling face.

"Watashi no zashi desu. Good for whacking and for reading."

"I bet."

She sunk down next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders as best she could. "So, why did you want to cut school? Other than that 'test' for Kirk."

Yamato winced as he lied down, wanting to relax his back, and taking Isis with him in the process. "Crap, I forgot about that. Probably just another bogus one. Well, I've just been tired after the long day yesturday. Needed a break."

"I bet," she said, looking at Yamato's accusing eyes. "Hey! Just because you did something to Tai doesn't mean I'm going to lecture you. What you do to him is your business, unless you physically or mentally harm him to the point that he can't be around you without flinching. In that case, I'll beat the living snot out of you. Believe me Yamato, we all have our limits."

Yamato didn't respond, just stared at the ceiling. He would have liked to fall asleep at that instant, but it would have been rude. Instead, Isis got up and kissed his forehead, having felt the tension mounting.

"I don't like it, Yamato-san. I don't like how you've been acting, I don't like how you're light's been drained, and I don't like how you've changed. But, I will stick by you, not as a band member but as a friend, okay? I'm not gonna kick your ass about it or ignore it like everyone else. Now, I'm going to make breakfast. What do you want to eat? And none of this 'I'm not hungry' stuff."

"Toast," he said, sleep evident in his eyes. "And a cup of orange juice, please."

Isis left to the kitchen, satisfied with this, but when she returned several minutes later, she found Yamato fast asleep, a small troubled expression on his face. She sat on the floor next to him, eating her breakfast while running her fingers through his hair to make his troubled expression go away.

**123!**

Tai stood from where he had been sitting, playing video games, having heard knocking on the door. It was about two in the afternoon and he wasn't expecting company. Whoever this was knew he had stayed home and, god forbid, was going to attack him. He walked to the door like it was a death trap and opened it slowly, his first mistake.

"Konnichiwa!"

Sonia had managed to breech the walls of Tai's house. Luckily, she hadn't tackled him down. Instead she walked in calmly and sat down on the couch. Tai followed her, confused in his own right, before remembering the "manners" she drilled into him.

"Okay, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here. You're not even supposed to know I'm home! Do you want something to drink?"

"No thank you and this was planned in advance yesterday. I guess in your rush to get home, you answered a question that was of a complex nature. I asked if you wanted to hang if you didn't go to school. You said yeah, so Kari called me and said you didn't go today, so here I am."

("ote to self: Kill Kari and destroy her favorite doll in the process.")

"Yeah, my question is why?"

"You look down, so I'm here to cheer you up. Let's go out. The beach or something."

"It's getting colder by the week and you're always at the beach!"

She smiled before throwing her hands behind her head. "I'm just a beach girl. San Luis Obispo, New Port, Long Beach, I've lived by the coast all my life! Without water, I'd die."

Tai laughed, and instead of saying yes to the beach, sat down next to her.

"Look, I can't do much, but if you want, I'll take you to a shopping district and buy you a doll or something."

She gave him a mock death-glare. "Todavia tengo las munieqas de Sailormoon."

"Huh?"

"I said, let's go to the park," she lied. "And every time you say something stupid I'll talk in Spanish, okay?"

"What?!" Tai yelled as she got up, ready to rush out the door with him in tow. "But then I won't understand you."

"That's the idea, Tai-Dye."

When they arrived at the closest park, she quickly sat down on the swings, pushing herself gently back and forth as she looked at the sky. Tai sat next to her, perfectly still, but wanting to break the silence between them.

"You know, Tai," she started. "It's funny how everyone shares the same sky and air yet there is war, death, hatred, greed, and just wrong in the world. No two people can be at complete peace with the world because of those reasons. Pretty depressing, don't you think? But for every bad thought, there are good ones to go along with it. For example: your hot ex-boyfriend. He's an asshole, but from what Isis said, he was really nice, except to one of your friend's sister, and was a sweet, caring person. I don't think that left him, that caring part. The sweet and nice parts of him are probably hidden by something."

Tai let out a deep sigh, staring up at the same sky Sonia was looking at. "You got a weird view of the world. But it might make sense one day."

"It comes with living in depression for the majority of your teenage years. You look at the bad aspects a lot, but you learn to appreciate the things no one else would really look at. If you are lucky, that is. Yamato has to come out of whatever hole he's in for him to survive. I heard plenty of stories of people that went so far in that they couldn't cope and they ended up taking their lives, kicking the bucket, visiting Davey Jones locker."

"I get your point, enough of the death euphemisms. He might as well just do it if he's dumping everyone, if not everything, around him."

Sonia made it a point to somehow manage to kick Tai off the swing he was on before smacking him upside the head.

"Estupido! No digas cosas que no entiendes! Lo haces otra vez y te doy tus buenas."

Tai stayed on the ground, the safest place he could be while Sonia started to sway heatedly on the swing, obviously pissed by what he had said. He wasn't even going to ask her what she said. He let her continue her rants until she was mad enough to only look up in a very displeased manner.

"Boys!" she said, looking at Tai. "Look, you idiot. It's bad to wish death on someone. I didn't come here to scold you, damned it! I came here to hang out with a friend, but if you're going to act like a dick, I might as well go home and stop wasting my time here."

Tai was confused now. ("Wasting her time?") "But what about the gig?!"

"What? That little defense thing? That was temporary because he hurt you somehow, but he didn't wish death upon you, did he?"

Tai stood up, sitting on the swing again, since it might be safe now. He hadn't told anyone what Yamato said, not even Kari. Maybe it would help him a little. He let a depressed smile press his lips as he looked at her dead serious expression.

"He told me to get out of his life. That everything between us will lead to mistakes. And then at the gig, he went ahead and groped me, even when I told him to let me go. He just told me to be his whore so I could find out what was going on in his life. But it wasn't him looking at me through his eyes. It was someone else."

"Ah. Now I'd _really_ like to have a talk with this guy. You still love him, don't you?"

Tai looked away. How could he be sure after all Yama said and did? If he still did love Yamato, how could he show it anyway? He wasn't even sure if Yamato still loved him.

"If you still love him, Tai, then it's high time you begin to question him. See if he's worth still going for, even if all you have remaining is a basic friendship of mutual agreements, whether or not he has changed into what he has become today for personal reasons."

"I don't even know if he still has any feelings for me."

"What does that matter? You had a fine time for the while you were with him, didn't you?" She looked at Tai, who nodded slowly. "Then that's all you need. If you keep a friendship, at least you'll have that for new memories, the good along with the bad. I don't know how things will turn out, but if you both walk to the fork in the road together, then it will be easier when you part ways in the future. If you're destined to meet again and reunite, then it'll be a day to remember. But for now, let him be. Say a simple hello, even if he ignores you. It'll hit him later, hopefully, that you don't want him to be out of your life forever and that you'd still like to have at least simple day-to-day contact as if you are acquaintances. Do you understand?"

"A little. You use too many metaphors and stuff."

"Habit, my little friend, habit. Now, let's go get something to eat! I'll buy, but um . . . keep it simple, please?"

"Burgers it is."

**123!**

It was the following day when Yamato saw Tai standing in front of his classroom. He was about to walk in the opposite direction when Tai just walked up to him with a smile on his face, no doubt fake. Yamato kept his ground, feeling that whatever he was going to get was probably for his own good.

"Good morning," Tai said. He took out a small box from his pocket, holding it toward Yamato. "I thought you might want this."

Yamato got the box deliberately slow, like it was bomb. "Um, what is it?"

"Open it later, okay?"

Yamato looked at him suspiciously as Tai started to walk away. He got a very bad feeling it was a bomb.

"Hey! Wait a minute! Is this thing supposed to blow up when I open it or what?"

Tai didn't respond, but instead kept walking. He didn't wait long before he opened it, slowly, peering inside. He was surprised to find a folded sheet of paper and a small cd that most likely held no more than two or three songs. He pulled out the sheet of paper, which quickly turned into three before recollection took place. It was the song he had written at the camp two years ago. ("I thought I got rid of it.") He looked at the other two sheets of paper. One was a sheet of lyrics that were thrown everywhere, scratched out and re-written. The last one was a short letter: Don't give up and don't give in. ("That's what I told the kid at camp, the one that I was teaching to play the guitar. He remembered?") He walked in the direction that he had seen Tai walk in, but didn't see him down the hallways. What it meant, he wasn't sure. But he spent the majority of his morning trying to figure it out.

**123!**

Yamato slumped into his seat in his Literature class, feeling empty, having been unable to figure out what the hell Tai meant by the box. He stared out of the window and saw some couple just holding each other. At least it was the break and he could hang out in Whitman's classroom without worrying about couples reminding him what he lost, possibly, time and time again.

He took out a notebook and started to scratch little drawings. Somehow they all looked the same. They were no different from the tidbits he drew before . . . he didn't want to think about it. He closed the notebook, stood up, closed the blinds to block himself from the couple outside, before returning to his desk.

"Quite hostile toward others, aren't we?" Whitman said. She brought the book she was reading down to get a better look at him and his actions.

When he had first entered the class, he thought she was going to be a bitch. Her name had rung "bitch" when he first heard it: Mrs. Witman. She had the expression to go with it too. She had light brown hair in a tight bun and was wearing a suit that seemed to correspond with a stubborn, PMSing businesswoman. When he heard her speak, it was a different story. She seemed like a sweet person after that and he grew to enjoy her class like he had her for previous classes. She seemed to understand teenagers better than they understood themselves, like she vividly remembered what it was like to be that age and knew what to expect.

"Hello, earth to Yamato," she said. She did not sound like an adult when it wasn't class time. "The sun's not out, so why did you close the blinds?"

"Seemed like the logical thing to do. Two people, public, better give them some privacy," he replied, making sure the blinds didn't even leave a crack where he sat. Once he was pleased, he returned to his seat, ready to open his notebook again.

"Brilliant idea. Seems to conclude one aspect as to why you have been coming to my class every single day since the beginning of the school year. May I ask why?"

"It's been cold and I just need a place to think. It was the logical thing to, I mean, go to a classroom."

"What about the library?"

"Too crowded."

It was a flat out lie. Whitman knew it, but she didn't wish to end the conversation quickly.

"Ah. That explains a lot. See, now it makes perfect nonsense. But I thought I should speak to you about your poem, personally. It was one of the elite, Yamato. How long have you been writing for? I mean really writing?"

"What do you mean, Witman?"

"I mean, you have the great talent to go to a university. You should become a writer, unless you already have a different career choice. It really reminded me why I became a teacher. And those are rare. At least one every six classes."

"Well, Witman, I'm not sure, but I love to cook and I heard about a culinary arts school in California. I'm planning on applying and see if I get in. If I do, I'll be grateful."

Another flat out lie. He had only applied to a few universities out of the country, but what he wanted to do? If only he knew.

"Brilliant! You keep aiming for that goal. Don't stop trying." Her smile faded just slightly as she walked closer to her student, sitting on the desk next to his. "Ishida, I know something is wrong in your life. I don't know what it is and I'm not going to pry if you don't wish for me to know, but I want you to know that I'm here if you need someone to talk to or if you need some advice. I won't tell anyone anything unless it's serious. I don't want to see anything bad happen to any of my students." The bell rang. "You have a very promising future. Please don't let anything or anyone stop you. That brain of yours will get you into trouble, especially with how stubborn it is. But I hope it lets you get into a good school, wherever it might be."

Yamato looked at her as she crossed back to her desk, watching as the students entered the room. He could only think of how strange she was and how weird some of her actions were. Other teachers wouldn't do some of the thing she did. But as the last of the students came in, she started to read the "elite" that she had liked.

"These are the ones that really did share your personality, as I requested. I asked each of you to look into yourself and spread your thoughts and feelings in anyway you chose. A poem is a free weapon of choice. It can be secretive or forward. Poetry holds no bounds and no restrictions."

She began to read them. Each was more curious than the last and some were actually hilarious to the point that several of the students that had begun to fall asleep had become fully awake. Each one had remained anonymous. But when Yamato's came up, he could only listen to his words speaking back to him in a more clear tone than when he had written it.

" 'Hers is His' is the title of the next one.

'Hers is His

Where the world speaks silence

Is deep within my container.

The white-color filled canvas

Was completed by one and plus painters,

But the sun has taken the color,

Unwilling to share with the others.

Blind each other in a fit of distress,

Sadly cannot look upon each other.

Mistakes and bruises fill the canvas

Deep within my silence-filled

Colored and broken container.

Where one and plus painters filled

Now stands the sun and rays,

Taking what is wanted,

Discarding what is unneeded.

What was mine is now hers and his

What is hers is his

What is ours is theirs,

And theirs is ours.

White-colored canvases fill the rooms

Where one and plus painters stand,

Ready to color once again.'"

**123!**

The rest of the day went by quickly, Yamato walked with his poem and the box in hand. He was the last one out of the school, avoiding all the people he would usually catch. As he walked out of the campus, he saw a girl standing at the entrance, dressed in a very neutral blue skirt, brown sandals, and a loose shirt. Her hair was pushed back by a bandana and it waved down to her shoulder blades. She looked so familiar, but he couldn't place it.

She smiled as he approached her, obviously happy to see him. He stopped right in front of her and she gave a quick hello before asking to talk to him. They walked to the roof of the school, looking down at those in after school clubs. She just looked glad to be somewhere high.

"So," he started, unsure what to say.

"I'm sorry we didn't get a proper introduction at the lounge. My name is Hernandez, Sonia," she said, holding out her hand.

"I'm Ishida, Yamato," he said, shaking her hand. "You're Tai's friend."

"Si, I mean, yes. I didn't like the fact that I didn't get a chance to meet you earlier, and that we missed a proper introduction, so I decided to come here and see if I could spot you in a crowd. I was actually worried I had missed you."

"Oh," he said, leaning on the railing. "Um, I don't mean to be rude, but what is it that you want? Tai didn't put you up to this did he?"

"No. I'm doing this because I want to. I actually came to talk to you about what has been happening. I don't know much about it, so I'm only going to say what I mean to say from what I see, all right? If anything is out of context, please forgive me."

"Okay. But what you've been hearing probably is just what someone else has been thinking. Rumors probably."

"Like you threatening Tai and making him feel like you hate him and want him dead? I heard that, and I had an interesting conversation with Tai yesterday, which made me knock him up the head. I think he still has feelings for you and I don't know if you still do. Yes, it's none of my business and such, but I don't want to see something two people hurt for idiotic reasons, if at all. Anything that you say to me up here will remain up here."

"What?"

"Look, I think you're a good guy that's taken a bad turn. I just want to help you out a bit, even if it's nothing but talking."

Yamato looked at her straight in the eyes for the first time, truly confused. "Why? You hardly know you and me think I'm a good guy? Didn't you listen to what Tai told you?"

"Yes I did, but I also took into account what Isis and Hikari told me, as well as a few of your other friends. If I am to believe what they said to me, I might as well speak to you face to face."

Yamato laughed lightly. "Okay, then. Tell me what you want to tell me."

"Great. We're actually going somewhere. But just so you know, I'm leaving this Thursday. Okay, let's get started. First of all, I am not sure if you still have feelings for Taichi or not."

Yamato let out a mock laugh. "Let me guess: If I still have feelings for him, I should go back to him and ask for his ever longing forgiveness for all I did, right?"

"Wrong! If you do, you should decide if you'd like to have another shot. I don't know what the hell is going on in your head, but too much assumption seems to be one thing. Look, blondie, you should get out of whatever stump your in. You're going down a wrong path and it's heading toward a friend I left a few years ago. And look at your skinny ass, eat something before I come back and shove some food down your throat."

Yamato looked at her like she was psycho, but she only held a serious expression on her face. "Look, Yamato, whatever it is that's making you act like this toward everybody isn't worth it. It may be a bad situation, but there is always a way out. Do it for yourself and for those that you care about. Hell, you can yell it to the world, but don't hurt those around you in the process. Don't ignore your friends because of something that's going wrong in your life, you'll regret it forever."

"What if you're doing it because you don't have a choice? What if you're doing it to protect those around you?"

She stared at him, but didn't make any accusing glances. "There is a way around everything. It can be indirect or direct, but there is always a way around everything. Now, about Tai."

"Oh, god."

"Say that all you want, but you have to hear it. He's confused about you. Everything you've done and said has left him questioning whether or not you even care if he'll want a small friendship. He thinks that you hate him and want him dead."

"I don't. I say and do what I do in order to keep him safe. He's better off not being around me. It is for his own good."

"His own good?" she questioned, making him look at her. "His own good and safety? All the good it's doing to him is making him fall in his own vortex of depression and confusion. He isn't even sure if he still loves you, let alone if you still love him."

"I do, okay?! I love him and that's why I do this."

She smacked up on his head, having been unable to hold back.

"What the fuck are you? Crazy?!"

"I told you, you'd learn to fear me. And you deserved that. You hurt him because you love him? That's the stupidest crap I've ever heard. You're already giving up. You're allowing the damned bull to ram you into the wall and pierce your guts with its horn, several times."

"Well, the bull hurt when it hit me on the head."

She hit him once more. "Dilo otra vez, pero con ganas, estupido."

He just smiled at her before briefly saying. "I don't know what you just said, but I guess it wasn't good. Okay, what the hell do you want from me? A fifteen page letter of apology to Tai and the world or what?"

"I want you to think about it and decide."

"What?"

"You have to decide what is best for yourself and those you care about. And if you think continuing down the path you've already chosen is what is best, you might as well kill yourself and loved ones while you're at it, since that's all I see happening."

**Dun Dun Dun**

Fairyoftwilight: Hi guys. I hope you guys liked it and I had to cut off the fully masochistic scene because I think it would have entered into an NC-17 thing. That and it ended up taking a life of it's own. ::smiles::: I'll see if I let it become "readable" later on. If I do, I'll tell you guys and e-mail me. Hitomi was nice for once and Sonia has a physical link now in the story. Isn't that right Hitomi?

Hitomi: Yeah. Whatever, and if I have to remind you again that my name ends with an 'i' not an 'e' I'm going to kill Yamato. Speaking of which, he decided to drop by after the fic, just for the readers! So, what did you think, Yamato?

Yamato: What the hell is your problem? Me? Mascochistic? And what about that thing with Tai? And that talk with Sonia?

Fairyoftwilight: Oh that just made it end perfectly to me. Plus, we went off our chapter outline, three times. And that thing with Tai? :::looks at Hitomi:::

Hitomi: What? It was the best way to start. You were feeling like crap after what you said and did to Tai and wanted to repent somehow. It was the next big thing. Besides, it's not like you were forced into it, completely.

Yamato: Yeah right. What about with Tai? What are you going to do? Make me get on my knees and beg him to hurt me? Ya know something like "c'mon Tai, just a little S&M. You can use whatever you want, just beat me" ?

Fairyoftwilight: Not a bad idea, Yama! Wonder how to bring that about.

Hitomi: Good, work with it, Twilight, you're almost there, no more finals, no more books, tons of pictures people took.

Yamato: :::looks at them like they're psycho::: Okay, looks like I'm going to take us out. Next chapter will be out when they're done forcing me to be a willing masochistic uke, or when winter stress is gone. Hell if I know if they'll post it. Well, review and tell them what you liked, and didn't like :::cough::: Lu screwing me :::cough::: And what you'd like to see.

Fairyoftwilight: Wait! We're caught up to the notes, so there are about three or four more chapters left. Thanks for the encouragement and the patience you guys. Review and see you next chapter.

:::waits ten minutes:::

Hitomi: wow, look at all the translation and facts to talk about.

Fairy of twilight: I know, that's why I changed the color while writing. Spanish or Japanese first?

:::both look at work again::: Simultaneously: Spanish.

1. Oye, estas flaco. Que paso: Hey, you're skinny. What happened?

2. Todavia tengo las munieqas de Sailormoon: I still have the Sailormoon dolls.

3. Estupido!: Stupid

4. No digas cosas que no entiendes!: "Don't say things you don't understand." Originally I was going to write Don't stay things you don't mean, but I forgot how to say it, so I went for the next best thing I could remember.

5. Lo haces otra vez y te doy tus buenas: This is something we say in my family, I don't know if other families use it, but the rough of it is, "You do it again and you'll get yours." I don't recommend anyone that's learning Spanish as a foreign language to use this, at all.

6. Dilo otra vez, pero con ganas, estupido: Say it again, but with guts, stupid.

Japanese translation:

watashi wa zashi desu: My magazine.

Konnichiwa: hello or good afternoon, either works.

Other:

That Band: Yes there is a band called That Band, they're in the L.A. Underground.

Those places Sonia said, they're all along the California coast. San Luis Obispo is beautiful, so if anyone is heading to Cali for a scenic trip or something like the main cities, go to San Luis Obispo, you'll love it.


	10. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: You've heard it how many times by now? I don't think you need to hear it again. But Tsunami Bomb and their song are not mine. They are a real band and that is their song, if you've heard it.

FOT: Hello! After so long of editing this and trying to figure out what was wrong, I gave up and threw in the towel. It is good enough.

Hitomi: So, why make this chapter a rush kind of thing? Cuz I mean, you know that's what left you to be unsatisfied with it.

FOT: I know, but it's easy to answer! 1) internet was on the fritz for a while. This was why the library was handy, but not entirely since we can't upload anything:short tantrum: 2) School is causing superboredom, and is leaving me little time. Thankfully part of this chapter was written in script format and in sketch form, so it was easy to put together. 3) Gotta find a job.

Hitomi: Oh, makes sense.

FOT: So yes. I don't like this chapter, no matter which way I look at it. I tried to make it fit and make it satisfactory, but school sorta got in the way and so did my reading habit and some life things that I'm sure you don't' want to hear about. But this took longer than expected to post due to my internet connection being on the fritz.

And……As for the question of intermissions they were a filling in of space due to writer's block or lack of being able to post (in other words my way of saying "Ack! I don't know what to do! I don't know what to do! I don't have time! I have time but no ideas! WHICH IS IT?" in a nice way)

And ryuu-takahashi: Yes, Masochistic-uke-yamato is to drool over…hahahaha!

So anyway, here is chapter 8.

('text') is thought.

Chapter 8

Yamato wasn't sure what he was planning to do as he lied in Yanni's room, watching whatever she was watching on her small television. It was an Independent movie; that much he could tell, but as to what it pertained to, he didn't care. There was a gig coming up in two weeks and Sonia was going to leave Japan on Thursday, which was in two days. It was late, and he could hear Lu and Als in the room across the hall doing whatever they were doing.

"Might as well use the phone," he muttered, receiving a questioning look from Yanni.

He stood up and walked toward the door, soon getting an extended arm with Yanni.

"Yamatoooo, where are you going?"

"I have to use the phone. I have to call a friend of mine. Um, do you have paper and a pen by any chance?"

"What color? I went to the art store and met your weird twin!" she chimed.

"My twin? Wait, you went out on your own!"

Yanni let him go in order to retrieve a purple pin from the pouch of one of her bears. Rushing to Yamato, not answering his previous question.

"Here's the pen," she sing-songed.

He walked out the room, finding a panting Lu leaning against the opposite door. He tried to cross back inside the room, but Lu shut the door before he could even manage getting his heel inside.

"You look good enough to eat, or fuck, or both," he muttered, pulling down Yamato's collar and tenderly sucking his neck, biting it in the process.

Yamato held his growl as much as he could as Lu pulled him in closer and tighter. But he couldn't stop himself when he blurted out for Lu to go fuck himself. At that cry, Lu backhanded him, making the youth hit the wall, nearly falling. He looked up noting that Als had come out of the room, only covered by an open plaid shirt.

"Lu, baby, leave that guy alone for tonight. You're mine tonight, don't you remember? Play with him tomorrow. Come on, let's play some more."

She entered the room again, Lu following right after. Yamato merely stood there, dumbfounded by what had happened. He quickly regained his senses and walked to the living room to grab the cordless from its cradle, walking to the kitchen right after. He opened the refrigerator finding a bowl full of grapes.

"Might as well, I don't want to pass out," he muttered, taking the bowl out and sitting at the table while he dialed Isis's cell-phone. She quickly answered, which was a first for him.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Isis, hey. It's Yamato."

"Ohh! Matty-Boy! What's up?"

"You talk to Sonia, right? Tai's friend?"

"My friend, too. Yes I do. Why? You want a date with her? No can do!"

Mat couldn't help but laugh. But somehow to him, he sounded too hollow. He cleared his throat as he chewed on another grape.

"No, I don't want a date, but I want to talk to her. Do you have her number by any chance?"

"Sure, but why would I give it to you when she's right here. You want to talk to her now?"

"Yes, please."

He waited while the phone was passed. He was able to hear the confusion before Sonia actually answered, given that Isis was also most likely confused as to why he wanted to talk to her.

"Hello?" Sonia nearly said in sing-song fashion.

"Hi. Um, Sonia, it's Yamato. Um, I want to talk to you again. Do you have a free day tomorrow or are you leaving tomorrow?"

"Um, actually, I double checked the tickets and I'm leaving on Friday, not Thursday after all. But if you want to talk tomorrow, I am free. But you have school tomorrow. And your education is very, very, very important."

Yamato nearly choked on one of the grapes as it passed down the wrong pipe.

"You okay?" Sonia asked, sincerely concerned. "You're not choking over what I said, right?"

"No," he coughed out. "Food, wrong pipe. But um, I'll skip class tomorrow. Just meet me in Isis' house or something tomorrow morning. We'll go talk somewhere quiet."

He could hear Isis in the background, clearly aware of what they were talking about. "You guys can stay at my house. Just don't do anything freaky. My mom leaves for work at five in the morning."

"That's good," he said. "I'm usually at the campus an hour before classes actually begin."

"QUE!" Sonia piped out. "Isis, he's at school an hour before it starts?"

"I told you he was the drill sergeant from hell," Isis laughed. "Even for practice. For a gig, he's ready two hours before any of us."

"Como lo hace?"

"I can't understand Spanish," Yamato harshly stated. "Well, I got to go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright. Buenas Noches, Yamato."

"What?"

"I said, good night."

"Oh. Oyasuminasai."

(123!)

Tai walked toward Sora, who had been joining him for lunch since the beginning of the semester. As much as they had all changed, she almost changed the most. She had let her hair grow long and had it braided. They sat on the roof of the building, enjoying the heat the sun provided in the premature cold weather they were having.

"So," Sora started. "I heard something went wrong at the lounge gig this past weekend."

"If by wrong you mean a surprise visit gone wrong, then yeah," he muttered, taking a bite of the food his mother had nearly threw on him on her way to work. "But it was nothing big, I mean, I met Kari's new boyfriend and I swear, he is damned hot. Even when he plays, which is awesome."

"Hotter than Yamato, or not as?"

Tai cast her a short surprised look. "Um, I think they're about the same. But Hojo doesn't have that feel of music like Mat has, you know? He plays well, but he's missing the…What is it?"

"Unity," a new voice piped up.

Sora and Tai turned, catching Whitman walking up to them.

"Hello, Whitman," Sora said. "What are you doing up here?"

"My break buddy didn't come today, so I decided to see how the campus looks from up here. It's quiet up here. I wonder why he doesn't come up here?"

She stood at the railing, looking out at the track field, and seeing some of the students eating their lunch on the bleachers. Taichi just stared at her. No other teachers went up here, unless they were looking to discipline the "delinquents" that would manage to convince other students to skip class. But even the delinquents would avoid being on campus if they were going to skip class, usually.

"It's such a nice day, why would anyone want to stay inside?" she said, lifting her head to the sky. "Oh well. Some people just can't appreciate what nature has to offer."

Sora laughed lightly, unsure if it was meant to be a joke or a serious line. "Anyway, who is your break buddy?"

"Hm? Oh, it's the one you're talking about. He's always in my classroom, even when he's not supposed to be. I think he just wants the company just as much as he doesn't want it at all. He's a nice paradox. Although he tries to hide it through a silent protest, he is very bright. You can just see it in his writing. And, from what you two have been talking about, it is so among other things."

Tai just smiled at this. At least someone else was catching something about Yamato, even if others weren't.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself to you," she said, looking at Taichi. "I'm Mrs. Whitman. Sora was one of my students last year. And you are?"

"Yagami, Taichi. A friend, really," Tai said before Whitman could assume that he and Sora were an item.

"So, what about Yamato having 'unity'? I mean, I don't think you've heard Hojo or Yamato play, Whitman."

Whitman turned again, facing the two youths sitting patiently on the floor. She lowered herself and put her hands in prayer form on her lips.

"I guess what I meant was that he has a way of putting things together and showing his voice in them. It takes a tremendous amount of skill to be able to put your voice into anything to the point that someone else can feel what you are feeling. He is able to do that. It's unity. But it's different from putting your soul into it. That would have it become harmonious, and it would develop an entirely different meaning."

Tai looked up like she was insane. "Somehow, I understood what you said, but I still don't get what you're trying to say about Hojo."

"If I do the breakdown, you will get lost in the meaning," she laughed. She stood and started her walk toward the door. "Well, I might as well go to the teacher's lounge and see what little gossip they are able to give. Boring, really, when they have nothing better to do than gossip about their students. Well, good-bye."

(123)

Yamato panted, waiting outside Isis's door until he managed to catch his breath. The run from where Lu tried to grab him straight to his friend's house had taken a toll. He barely escaped getting beaten, yet again. ('He's just a horny bastard right now. Never going to hurt me, my ass. Wait, he did that already. Okay.')

He managed to compose himself enough to enter as though he had just ran past the campus to avoid seeing a hayaoki. Before he even knocked, the door opened, a half-asleep Isis meeting him. She waved a good morning yawn before walking past him. Sonia was sitting on the floor, watching whatever morning show was on, or at least whichever had caught her attention.

"You know," she started, shutting off the television, "I'm sick of that box. It's not as interesting as I thought it would have been. Must be from those foreign films I saw or something. I don't know."

Yamato just stared at her, unsure of what to say, or what would be the appropriate response. He didn't stay in that position long as he took off his shoes, deciding to stay quiet than to offend her. She seemed like the kind to be short tempered and did not want to trigger that, especially after the little gig incident and the incident at the school.

"So, what do you want something for breakfast?"

"Oh, it's okay. I already ate," he said, completely ignoring the fact that his meal was a bowl of grapes the night before.

"Too bad. I was going to make something out of whatever was edible. Well, I'll just wait for lunch then. Okay, so what was it you wanted to talk about?"

Yamato sat down on the floor, quietly taking out his notebook. Sonia took her place in front of him, looking forward to talking to him again, oddly enough.

"Um, I sorta forgot."

She looked at his confused look for a few seconds before breathing in deeply, commenting on how small her own brain was getting and how much more quickly his was deteriorating.

"You're an idiot. You call saying you want to chat, then you don't and now you say you forgot."

"It's not that! It's….It's just hard to word," he said, looking at the floor below his crossed legs. He really wanted to ask for her advice on what to do about his current situation, but he just couldn't bring himself to even speak of it. He was terrified if she went to the police that his family would get hurt. "Look, I'm stuck in this ditch."

"Yeah, I got that. So what are you going to do about it? I can't do anything about it, no one really can unless we know why you're in there."

"That's part of the reason I'm in there," he said, instantly wishing he hadn't. "I mean, there are consequences for what I say or do."

"Like losing your friends and boyfriend, except your band," she quickly matter-of-factly stated. "I'm guessing that's because you have a very close bond with your band mates?"

He let out a half-smile. "Not really a close bond. Isis would have most likely killed me had I left. And it's something that I just can't let go of. I mean, we want to be famous, at least Isis, Tom, and Jubi do."

"But you don't, right? Hey, that's okay. Every person has their own dream."

"Yeah, and we discussed that. We'll go as far as we're able to."

"Soo desu. But these consequences are worse than losing your friends and family in the sense that….?"

He shifted a little, unsure of what his reply could or was going to be. Maybe just dropping the bomb would be better than letting it hang, wouldn't it be? She never gave him the chance.

"Look. If it's that important, tell someone you know well. Someone you know that can help you. I can only do so much before my limit is reached. If I lived here, it would be a different story. Everything would be different."

"Yeah, half the city and those around it would be in trouble."

She wasted no time in smacking him nonchalantly.

"Looks like you forgot all I told you the other day," she said, quickly reaching around to start grabbing her hair, which had been bugging her, in a high pony-tail. "I have no idea what the hell kind of point you are trying to make or what you want to talk about for that matter, but I'm not going to give you the chance to confuse me! Great, I just confused myself."

Yamato looked up this time, praying for forgiveness.

"I need your help in getting Tai to forget about me, to just move on," he said, receiving a pre-disposed death glare.

"We already had that conversation. So why bring it up again?"

"The reason being that the next decision I make is going to hurt him more than those I already made. If he's away from me and if he forgets about me, it might not be as bad."

"'might not' being the keywords in your sentence." Her expression loosened, bringing in a small smile of realization. "But I can't do that. Once you've made an impact on someone's life, you can't make them forget you. Even if that impact was a bad one, you can't make a person forget another. Especially one that loved you. But it can bring in hate, which is sort of ironic."

"Any advice on how to turn him down a little less harshly?"

"The truth, maybe? But I remember you telling me you still love him."

"We already had that conversation."

She laughed. "True, but now to continue it."

(123!)

Tai was finally walking out of campus, having decided to talk to his teacher about a college. 'I should be doing something for my future, even if the present is turning out like shit,' he had muttered to himself in class. It didn't take him that long to see Isis and Sonia at the main gate. He didn't really want to pass them. He just wanted to go home and sleep, of course after he did his homework. But there was no way of getting around it, really. He finally caved and walked up to them, waving in the process. They waved back just as quickly.

"Tai, there's a gig in two weeks if you want to go," Isis piped up. "In fact, you're on the guest list. The owner is allowing for each band to chose five people to enter free of charge. They even chose specific bands! Ours was one of them! Eight bands and only three got chosen! Isn't it fun? You are one of the lucky five. And so is Takeru, of course."

"Wait, if there were five for each band, then how did you split it?"

"Yama got more tickets than the rest of us. He said he needed an extra ticket or two. I have no one to invite, since my mom's working that night, so I gave it to you. He doesn't know. Jubi doesn't have anyone to invite, so she gave it to him. Tom asked his girlfriend, new girlfriend. So, Yamato got three tickets. Not cool. I don't know who else he invited, other than Takeru."

She handed him the ticket, casually adding that the door cost was ten dollars. They each went their own ways, surprisingly. Sonia only gave him a farewell wave, not saying anything for her own reasons.

Once Tai arrived home, he noted Hikari already working on her homework, along with…..

"Hojo, what are you doing here?" he asked, trying his hardest not to stare.

"Oh, I'm helping Hikari study for her math quiz. She's been having some trouble with the quadratic formula. I keep telling her it's easy as pie and the most fun formula in mathematics, but she keeps saying otherwise."

Tai just nodded, not understanding what he found so easy about math, or entertaining for that matter.

"I'll leave you guys to it."

He quickly disappeared from the room.

"Told you math would make him go away," Hikari laughed once her brother was out of the room.

Tai merely lied on his bed, looking at the roof of the bed above him. He followed Sonia's advice. He kept saying little hellos to Yamato, even though the blonde ignored him, except that day he gave him only bit of memorabilia he had form the camp. He was starting to doubt that Yamato even wanted a basic friendship with him.

"He doesn't love me," he told his pillow as he turned around. "I don't know if he ever did. What if he just said that stuff? What if he never meant it in the first place? Damn him for making me think these kinds of things. Stupid Yamato. Oh yeah, homework."

(123!)

It was the day before the gig. The talk he had with Sonia had helped very little, especially when she nearly choked him after he said that it was useless to speak with her since she was practically a cave-woman. He was kidding of course, but he couldn't help himself. But it was then that he had made up his mind on what had to be done. It was the only way to protect his family and friends. And to finally make Tai forget about him. He was just glad that Tai reminded him about the kid he had helped at camp.

Yamato's thoughts were disturbed when Isis threw a towel in his face.

"What the hell?" he snapped, throwing the towel back at her.

"Wake up. We're demanding we play Tsunami Bomb."

"Who is?"

"Jubi and I," she chimed, starting to play a song by Tsunami Bomb on her bass, followed by Jubilee. "It'll be fun. Liven up the place. I say a cover."

"No covers," Yamato piped out.

"Why not?"

Yamato sat down on the couch, guitar on his lap, a serious look on his face. "Because covers are usually played by bands that have nothing else to play and they make it appear as though we can't play or write anything on our own. Covers are just technically the next horrible step. The original is obviously going to be the most remembered. Even if a famous band plays a cover, it will lead to their ultimate destruction, haven't you learned that?"

Isis looked at him with confusion on her eyes. Tom and Jubi looked at him with a similar expression. Isis then sat down next to Yamato, wrapping an arm around his shoulders before pulling him in a play-strangle. "That's the biggest load of crap I ever heard. Take it back! We've heard covers that surpassed the original track before!"

Yamato laughed, agreeing to play a song by Tsunami Bomb. This was most likely the last time he'd play with his friends and he wanted it to be lively. Of course what he was planning wasn't really bright, but it would suit what he wanted to accomplish.

He had given an extra ticket he had to Whitman, inviting her to see him play. She was more than happy to accept and promised she'd be there to see him play. He expected she'd understand what he was going to do, the main reason why he invited her. If anyone could catch it, it was Whitman.

Yanni didn't know. But he went to buy her a fairy doll to add to her collection. Now was the time he wanted to spend with his band mates. He promised himself he'd meet his father later on. He had to practically beg his band mates to go to practice earlier so that he could accomplish all he had to today. Luckily he overheard Lu and Als talking about dinner that night. Now he could go to his father's home, drop off the ticket for Takeru and then give Hikari the extra one. If he had given it to Yanni, it would have been suspicious.

He climbed the final flight of stairs leading to the apartment he had shared with his father, still remembering the apartment number. He knocked five times before his father opened, yawning lightly, obviously tired from work.

"Yamato? What are you doing here? You never came by before, come on inside."

Yamato stepped in, but kept his distance. "Hey, dad. I'm not staying long. I just came by to drop off Takeru's ticket for a gig I'm having tomorrow."

"Oh? Well, why don't you stay for dinner? I know it won't be much, being tv dinners, but it's something."

"I'd stay, but I have some stuff to do. I wanted to invite you and mom, but I know you're most likely going to be busy and mom had been busy."

His father nodded lightly, getting the feeling that Yamato wanted to avoid him. Yamato only gave him the ticket, wrapping his arms around him to give him a tight hug. His father slowly wrapped his own arms around his son.

"I love you, dad."

Yamato left the apartment building before his father questioned him. He moved as quickly as he could toward Tai's apartment, knocking enough to grasp Hikari's attention. She quickly walked outside to meet him before Tai could ask who it was.

"What's up?" she asked him.

"I just came by to give you a ticket to tomorrow's gig. Takeru most likely told you about it. I want you to go. I don't know if you're brother's going, though. The door price is ten dollars."

"I'll tell Tai about it. He's been out of it and by the look of it, you've been thinking."

Yamato only smiled nervously. Hikari was one of the few people that could notice. But rather than to continue being uncomfortable, he pulled the scarf he had around his neck down a bit, hoping it would calm his nerves.

"You're making it seem as though me thinking is a bad thing. I came to a conclusion recently and I just hope it's a good one."

"We all care Yama. Don't worry, I'll go, even if I have to nail Tai inside our home, I'll go."

"You do what you have to."

With that, Yamato left the brunette behind, deciding to return to his father's apartment to have his last meal with his father.

(123!)

Yamato sat outside the house strumming his guitar as practice for the performance he had been looking forward to. He had been sitting there for three hours, even with the knowledge that his band would come later to pick him up and then be off to the lounge. He finished the final three measures of the new song he had written out of spite for what had been happening. He smiled to himself. It would show everything. Anyone that figured it out would be lucky and he knew Whitman would understand it.

"It's going to be perfect," he said, not knowing that someone was behind him.

"What is?"

Yamato felt his blood freeze when he heard Lu's voice. He had been acting worse since his night with Als. But Yamato and Yanni both acted like neither noticed.

"The gig," Mat said, looking forward with no expression on his face but the terror evident in his eyes. "All my friends are going to be there. And Yanni. I'm looking forward to seeing her reaction to the music. She hasn't heard us play."

"I was thinking, you should really change your style for this gig. You should have a new look. You should wear some skintight black pants, tight see through tank top and a trench coat. That would be perfect. Show that great figure of yours. You should also start to play something a bit more hardcore, like black metal."

Mat didn't let his look change as he kept glancing at the gate, hoping for the band to show up with the van. But he couldn't help thinking it over. He reviewed his wardrobe for the night: One of the long sleeve shirts he had grown fond of, a dark blue scarf around his neck to hide the bruises, faded blue jeans torn at the ends, and brown converse. What was wrong with dressing the way they wanted?

('It's not like we're going to play at a fancy restaurant or anything. It's just a lounge.')

Taking him away from the friends and family he truly loved was enough to nearly break him, but trying to take control of the band he was in? That was ludicrous. It wasn't just him, but it was three other people! That was Bullshit!

"What's wrong with my clothes and the band?" he asked, not losing the passiveness he had. "It's not like we chose the style we wanted, it's what we're all interested in. It's just what we did without thinking. If one wants to change, that's fine, but changing us all? That's near impossible."

"NEAR Impossible. That doesn't mean it can't be done. By the way, that chick is on the phone," Lu said, handing him the cordless.

Mat waited until he felt Lu was inside before he turned around and saw the door shut. He sighed heavily before lifting the phone to his ear.

"Moshi Moshi?" he said, sounding angry, relieved, and exhausted.

"Yo, Yamato, what the hell was that about? Dude, that guy is insane."

"I agree, Jubilee."

"Dude, call me Jubi or Lee, not Jubilee!" the guitarist said as Mat laughed lightly. "Hey, we're going to pick up Tommy boy. He's misplaced his drumsticks again, so we're going to help him search. We'll be over to pick you up in thirty minutes. Is it cool?"

"No, actually it's not, but take your time."

"Dude, what's wrong? You usually just say 'Sure, but tell Tom I'm going to kick his ass if he doesn't find 'em in time!' You've been . . .. Hold on a sec," Jubi said. Mat soon heard "Yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm coming! Don't get your balls in a twist!" before she came back and told him they'd be by "In ten at the max" before hanging up. He put the phone down, never taking his eyes off the gate.

('So, they'll be by in about ten minutes? Seems like an eternity. I really hope that I'm doing the right thing. I mean, I hope I can go through with this. I had to let go of Taichi to keep him safe, I had to move out of my dad's house, I had to tell TK to keep away, and I had to lose contact with my friends to keep everyone safe. I was lucky to keep playing with my band mates. Five months like this? Forget it! Thank you for the lectures, Witman and Sonia! I just hope you guys can forgive me. I hope I'm making the right decision.')

His heart started to beat faster at the thought of being able to hold Tai without fear, if only one more time. He didn't like that Tai had still been keeping contact closer than he would have liked, but at least he got a reminder of what he was like. The confidence he had before, and the happiness he had. At least he'd be able to get that back soon. But how was a different question. It would probably be years before he was able to get it back, but he didn't care. All that mattered right now was getting his plan over with.

He caught himself starting to smile when a figure started to appear in his head. She was dressed like a fairy, then a doll, then as what she would be like when she figured out. Yanni.

('Bastard! I remembered everything except Yanni. I'd run, but I can't. I wonder how she'll deal with this. She had protected me and helped me. How can I help her? I made up my mind already. If I knew where I could run, or even if I could…I can't. It would only harm my family. It would harm everyone I care about. I'm sorry, Yanni. I know you can take care of yourself. You took care of me.')

He laughed a sarcastic laugh and looked at his watch. It was almost time. He stood up and walked to the house, ready to place the phone back on the receiver. He opened the door and saw Yanni dressed in a Flapper outfit. But she also had a parasol closed in front of her as she walked down the stairs with character, well whatever character was with that costume she had. She gave a small smile to Mat and spoke with an accent.

"Well, my. Don't you look just handsome today? What's the occasion, doll?"

"I came to take you to hear music," he replied, holding out his hand for her to take and continue walking down the stairs. "Do you want to come in the van with me?"

She gave him a confused look as he set the phone on the hook. Lu soon came in and wrapped his arms around Mat's waist. When Mat stiffened, he grabbed a hold of both his arms and crossed them in front of him, holding him firmly as he sucked on his earlobe. Mat struggled against him, making Lu's grip tighten.

"That is not proper behavior for gentlemen to do before a lady," she said. Yanni then smacked Lu's hands with her parasol, making Lu instantly let go of Mat. "Or at all."

"YEOW!" Lu yelled as Mat ran out the door slamming it behind him, Yanni walking behind him. Lu glared at the girl as she walked out of the door, shutting it. He held his hands firmly together, seeing as they both were hit with the hard metal of the parasol. "You little brat!"

Als ran down the stairs with her make-up half done. "What's going on!"

"That little. . . she hit me with her damned umbrella!"

Als couldn't hold in her laughter when she saw the marks on his hands. They were small compared to what he's done to Yamato and he complained about it? She nearly doubled over with laughter.

"Shut up, Alice!"

(123!)

Yamato spotted the Van as soon as he was outside the door. He picked up his amp and asked Yanni to pick up his guitar. He rushed to the Van as soon as he saw it, put his things inside and sat down next to Tom, their drummer, on the floor of the van. He asked Yanni to sit next to him on the "car," which made everyone look at him oddly.

"Um, Yamato," Jubilee started. "Why are you talking to her like that? I'm sure she's not stupid."

"She's not. She's really smart, but today she's. . .well, I think she's an Flapper from the 1920's."

"Ah!" Isis said. "That movie Sonia made me to see. What was it called? With the girl that killed that one guy and the guns with the music scenes and jazz? I don't remember, but she's not close to that one at all. Especially with the parasol."

"Leave her alone. I had to get her away from some guy."

"The psycho!" Isis and Jubilee said simultaneously. "They all are."

Jubilee drove the van out onto the street toward the lounge. She hired the volume on the radio as their favorite song started to come out. Isis, Jubilee, and Tom started to sing along (Tom and Isis making it seem like they were playing the song. Jubilee couldn't since she was the driver) as Mat started to see Yanni begin to get scared. ('Weird, she loved this song before,') he thought. He thought for a second, then leaned close to her ear.

"They're from another country. This music is different from yours, I understand, but they don't know this. The show we are going to see, it has a lot of this genre of music. It's music for us to express ourselves, sorta like Mozart and Beethoven. Or like Fitzgerald's novels."

She looked at him and she started to calm down. ('He catches on quick') she thought

Soon, they were at the lounge. It was an hour before their set and Lu's car was right behind theirs. Yamato regretted doing so, but he asked Yanni to go inside with Lu and Als. He walked with Jubilee and Isis inside to meet up with the other bands that were playing and see the new people.

Upon seeing the lounge, and how crowded it was, he was grateful it was huge. He looked around the crowd and spotted a few of his friends. As he made a mental note to thank them for showing up, even though he had been distant, he didn't notice the strawberry-haired girl only feet away from him.

"Ya-Ma-To!" Mimi yelled, running up to him, surprising the hell out of him, as she flung her arms around his neck, and that's when he noticed she was drunk. "I missssed youuu! Neva leve 'aichi ugh-an, kay?"

He pulled her arms down and put them at her sides, holding her so she wouldn't fall over, which she seemed like she was about to do every second she swayed. "Okay. How much have you had and why?"

She pulled up a hand and started to put down two fingers at a time, swaying in the process. "Iznat alat. And It's FUN!"

She threw her arms up at yelling "Fun" and nearly fell backwards. Yamato wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from falling as she started to list what she drank.

"You're able to remember all that, but you don't remember how to speak properly?"

"'t coms w'th tal'nt 'weeth'rt. Youu l'k a wittle whyter. Ahhhhh, th'rs Tai!"

He noticed a figure start to run their way. Mimi was the first to turn around and lean on him.

"Tai! Ma bez frend!" Mimi yelled, clearly about to pass out.

"Tai," Yamato said passively. "How have you been?"

"Okay, I guess," Tai replied, holding Mimi up the best he could. "Babysitting her tonight. She found out her boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend now, was cheating on her right after he said he loved her. He broke up with her the next day. Nice way to show it, huh?"

Yamato looked away at that sentence. He threw an arm behind his back before he turned his gaze back to Tai. "Um, yeah. Listen, Tai, I. . ."

Someone grabbed a hold of his shoulder. He turned around and saw Jubilee smiling at him. "Mat, come on! We're on in ten. Stupid band that was supposed to play isn't showing up, we gotta play in their place. Isn't that gonna be fun?"

"As long as we don't have to play their songs."

"Exactly. For a damned 'respected band' they sure know how not to call ahead of time and say 'Hey, we're so cheap we can't make it.' Oh! Hey, Taichi."

"Hi, Jubi," Tai said, trying his best to keep Mimi from falling. When her weight pulled them both down, he only had a few seconds to grab her to avoid hitting her head on the floor. When he looked up, Jubi and Mat were gone. "That was close, right Mimi? Mimi?"

She had fallen asleep. He thought for a second. She was staying at her cousin's home, which was close by, and he had hitched a ride with Hojo and Kari. Kari owed him a favor. ('Fuck it! I'll take her home and be back in time to see Yamato's performance.')

(123!)

Yanni was sitting on one of the seats near the stage with Lu next to her. Als, with her hair almost a crimson color, was in front of her. She would rather be in her room playing with Hitomi than to be around these two while nothing could go wrong, but luckily she brought her to the performance. She tapped the self-made pocket of her dress, making sure the fairy hadn't fallen out. Glad that she hadn't, she turned her attention to the stage, continuously making "Wow"s so that Lu wouldn't notice her or pay attention since she was so "easily" distracted.

She looked at Mat, who was fidgeting on the stage with the equipment, constantly tuning his guitar. He looked at his band members, who each nodded once they were ready. He checked his scarf before he started to play the riff that got everyone started in the mosh-pit. He shot a look behind him when Tom began his drum solo too early in the song. Jubi merely looked at Isis, who turned around and nearly attacked Tom. Jubilee had to shout she was going to make her wear a dress on midnight on the coldest night of the year without nylons to make her stop. Jubilee followed Tom's lead, followed by Mat, then Isis. Mat was soon drowned into the music as his voice vibrated through the moshing crowd, with some safely away from the "hardcore" moshers, merely dancing to the rhythm. He started to liven up and get into the music he loved to play. He paid no attention to the crowd around him or the fact that Tom kept trying to speed up the tempo or the fact that he knew Lu and Als were burrowing lust filled holes into him.

The song finished and they began another that everyone knew as "That Song!" Mat was so drowned into the music, he didn't notice when Tai joined Ken in the pit. Mat merely saw the images he had seen when he and Jubilee had written the song: A kind of rebirth of a place that had been destroyed. But the lyrics she had written left it entirely encoded that he didn't even understand the metaphors she had, much like his own recent poetry and song lyrics.

TK entered the Lounge next with a group of friends he had made that year and nearly joined in the pit when Tai fell out, dizzy with distortion.

"Whoa! Tai, are you okay?" he asked, laughing in the process.

"No mommy, I don't want to go on the merry-go-round again. It was too fast."

When the song was finished, Mat scanned the crowd and noted TK sitting with his friends, except Koushiro. He knew that Koushiro and Jou had high expectations from everyone else. Koushiro was expected to go to a world-renowned university. Jou, on the other hand, was going to a medical university close to the area. They were most likely so engrossed in schoolwork that they forgot about the gig.

He saw Taichi sitting far from the others, Mimi no longer near him, and with a slightly pale skin color. Their eyes locked, but Mat didn't see Lu following his gaze. Yanni, on the other hand, caught this and spotted the five people sitting in front of Tai. They were all girls, except one boy. She took note that he was holding the hand of one of the girls, so the only other option was the teenager behind him.

Mat's eyes moved again and this time caught a hold of Lu. He caught him trying to find Tai. And he begged that Yanni did something to stop it, anything, much like she distracted him at that house. Whether or not she did, he didn't know, since Isis caught a hold of him once their song was over.

She covered the mike, and whispered "'No Good Very Bad Day' By Tsunami Bomb. Let's play it, you sing."

"Get Jubi to sing it! I don't know the lyrics much. And tell Tom no showing off! He does and I'll chop his fingers off."

Isis did so and she started up the bass. Jubilee continued and Mat followed. Jubilee moved to the mike and began.

"Why is it me? This not my day

I burnt myself with coffee and my brand new doggie ran away.

How can it be? I can't not believe

I don't have any money and I have to pay the bills today.

I wish that I could run away.

"Myself esteem is low, At losing I'm a pro

But there is one thing that I know

It'd all be good if I could just stay home

"What should I do?

He told me "I Hate You!"

I don't know where to live next year and my guitar won't stay in tune

Where should I go? I am so all alone

I broke my new computer and nobody calls me on the phone

I wish I weren't so accident-prone

Myself esteem is low. At losing I'm a pro

But there is one thing that I know

It'd all be good if I could just stay home

Myself esteem is low. At losing I'm a pro

But there is one thing that I know

It'd all be good if I could just stay home

Myself esteem is low. At losing I'm a pro

But there is one thing that I know

It'd all be good if I could just stay home."

The crowd cheered and applauded their performance with a great amount of enthusiasm. After another few songs, they noted they were close to overplaying their set. Yamato looked at Taichi again before glaring at Lu, who mouthed "These guys really suck." Lu shot him a possessive look, as though he were telling Mat he was just a plaything that can be easily discarded. But his look was nothing in comparison to the one Als was shooting. Whitman's words soon filled his mind as he dug further into Lu's metal eyeballs. ('"You have a very promising future, so please don't let anything stop you." Yeah, it's promising, all right. I can't wait to see the fireworks.')

Mat turned to Isis and Jubilee. "Okay, you guys. There's one more song I want to play, but it's more acoustic than anything. Tom! Tom can you come up with a drum beat to match in ten seconds?"

"Matty-Boy, I can do it in five as long as it sounds good!"

"Which means we're out," Jubi said, looping an arm around Isis as she unplugged her guitar. "C'mon sweetie, we're sitting now."

"Sidelines means pixi stixs."

"Good. Let's do it," he said walking up to the microphone. "Alright everyone. This is our last song."

Mat began to play a slow even riff that would have made many guitar legends proud. It was haunting, but Tom slowly found a beat that would stick. Soon Mat began to sing just as hauntingly as he was playing.

"Hello last breathe, to you I say hello,

It seems the end is near,

I saw her face look like the ghost,

She's just as scared of you,

I know there were more, but I'm the last,

She'll deliver you straight to hell.

Where did the sun go today?

The moon never smiled,

It hurts to say the truth,

It pains to hear your joy,

It pains but more to hear him cry,

So I'd love to see you die.

Look what it is you've done to us,

The ones that should protect.

You've done nothing but break our souls.

With what she saw,

How did she survive?

My smile, my joy, my laugh, my life,

I lost it all to you.

Can I just have life back?

Control, control, that's all you live for,

Why don't you just die?

Not her, not you, not me,

I read the letters of the past.

The pain, the pain, its all that's there,

You should have let them go.

It could have been more humane,

But that's just not your style.

You simply love the pain.

I wished for death, but it meant you,

Now I take the wish back."

Mat strum the last few cords, barely noticing that Tom had stopped in the middle of the song. The room wasn't murmuring with shock, unable to decode the words, since there had been so many messages as such before, but they applauded with just as much enthusiasm as before. Few in the room were really left in ill thought, Whitman being one of them.

Mat sent dagger eyes to Lu as soon as he opened his eyes, hoping that he had seen the message no one else had. Yanni looked as though she understood what was going on, what exactly was being planned, and was terrified, judging from her wide, wild eyes. She shook her head, then stood.

"I must travel to the ladies room and prepare for the next act. I will return when I am set and well."

She walked away from the table, unnoticed, and was about to walk past Tai. She stopped and stared at Lu's direction, making sure his attention wasn't on her. She knelt next to Tai and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't look at me," she whispered. "Your boyfriend's in trouble. You'll have to help him soon, but let him come to you. Stay with hope and remember that a shower at seven will save you the trouble of waking up early as hell. Keep an eye out for him. He's mad, he's sad, he's irritated, he's stubborn, and he knows not what he does. He won't tell you what has happened, but you have to be patient with him. Let him speak when he is ready, no sooner, no later. If you force him to, he will never learn to trust again. But if you make him wait, he will never say it at all."

With that she stood and walked to outside of the lounge. She gripped her parasol and was about to throw it to the floor in rage, but she held it over her head for a few seconds, then stopped. Grabbing the handle, the put the tip on the floor and sat on the closest bench, setting her head on her hands. She sighed heavily and thought for a second. She was out of character for the first time in years. Even when she was out of character, she was still in character, oddly enough.

('A character within a character. That's exactly how it was done for so long. Who am I tonight? Some dame? No. I'm never me, so am I me now, or will I be when Lu's stopped his game? Or will it be once I've fulfilled the promise to Onii-san?') She lifted her head and took the fairy out of her pocket, holding her firmly in front of her face.

"The idiot! He ruined everything, Hitomi!" she yelled. "He was almost out! But that song. Lu must understand if I do. He doesn't have a one track mind, but Yamato. . . the fool! He's going to be claimed, now, and a month from today . . . he might as well be dead now. But that is what he wanted wasn't it? The song said it all. He wants to die, now. Oh, why couldn't he see that Lu and Als were bluffing about harming his family? Lu would never . . . well, he would, but it's not him. Als is the one. He wouldn't…not to someone that young. He's going to make it look like suicide, just like Mark, oh poor Mark. Als will make him do it. She has before. How do I stop it? How do I keep Mat from having the next grave in my box?"

She set Hitomi on her lap and thought. She'd been gone for four minutes. Two more to think and get back. She was outside, so she could easily just forget it all and run away . . . "That's it!" she yelled, triumphantly as she strolled back inside.

(123!)

Yamato was in the van with his band members, drinking whatever was closest to him. His mind continuously nagged at him with every swing of his liquor, reminding him of what was going to happen.

Jubi had enough when she ripped the bottle out of his hands before he could continue and aim for another one.

"What the fuck did you do that for!" he yelled.

"Don't you fucking cuss at me, Mr. Secretiveoutofnowhere!" she yelled back. "What's up with you? You've been acting way too strange. And that song. . . my god. If the dead could walk, they would have been running in circles. I mean, Tom stopped playing and you know how big his head is, so full of himself."

"Hey!" Tom broke in, nearly dropping his soda in the process. "I'm not full of myself."

"I don't even want to know how the audience reacted, if they were listening at all. Yamato, what's compelled you to write such a song?"

Isis caught Mat's gaze, much like Jubi had, but added her bits. "Yes, you'll get your beer bottle back after you tell us, since that's what you've been looking at all this time, damned alcoholic."

Yamato's gaze drifted to Jubi's eyes. She was as serious as he was, but he had a much more relaxed expression on his. He figured he'd give her a quick summary and exclude the real reason for the song, even if she wouldn't believe it.

"Fine. When Tai left, some guy came up to me and pulled some crap out of his ass. Ya know, put me in a hole, basically. Something sorta happened and I cheated on Tai." ('More like I was forced into doing so and was raped in the process.') "I felt fucked up, but I didn't want to do it. The retarded angel on my right shoulder wouldn't stop nagging at me, so I broke it off with Taichi." ('More or less hoping to keep him safe. But the asshole wouldn't stay away.') "Now I feel shitty since I hurt him really bad and I loved him so much. So I wrote some of that in the song in spite of that. Now can I please have my beer back before I aim for the Heineken?" he asked with a smile.

"Is that guy the one that was sitting front row center? I mean, I saw Tai give a wicked scared look, song must have hit home. But that guy was really digging his eyes into you like it was going to get you to stop playing."

('Yes! It was him! Get him in jail! Get him locked up for life!') "I answered your question before, Jubilee. Now may I please have my drink like you promised?"

"Sure," Jubi said as she dumped the contents out the window, getting the Heineken before Mat could reach for it, before returning the beer bottle back. "First of all, a cheater is always a cheater, no matter how much you try to look around it. Second, I don't know what compelled you to cheat on Tai and I'm pissed off about it, I'm not going to lie. Third, you made a promise to Tai and I intend to keep it for you, since you're too ignorant to do it yourself at the moment."

"They say ignorance is bliss," Yamato said before he started to the door, ready to get out. He didn't notice when Isis had wrapped her arms around him.

"C'mon, Yamato," Isis said, pulling him along. "It's early. Let's have some fun."

('Yeah, I plan to enjoy myself before the rest of the night's events unfold. Oh well. Last meal, last day, last everything. Fun.')

"Okay," he said, opening the door and pulling at Jubi's hair. "See you inside. Oh, yeah. Tom, where's your girlfriend?"

"I don't know," he said. "Somewhere inside. She's acting stupid. We had a little fight and she went psycho."

Yamato laughed lightly, getting out and walking toward the Lounge, Isis in tow. Isis grabbed Yamato's arm like a lifeline, dragging him to dance with her. Even if he felt like he was dancing with two left feet, he managed, enjoying himself in the process, hoping to see his other friends one last time. He had made up his mind. He would see it through and would enjoy his last day. It had been a good run, right? He knew it was over. And so it would be.

(1234!)

After Talk:

Hitomi: Hello and welcome to after talk. Today we discuss the use of imagery and in why authors won't LET MUSES GIVE SPOILERS!

FOT: Because they are useless.

Hitomi: But you should have let me write that in!

FOT: No. You're as big a pain as they come! AND why the hell are you going to give the readers a spoiler?

Hitomi: entertainment purposes? I mean, school and over-reading sorta lackens a persons creativity.

FOT:attacks Hitomi, attempting to squeeze life out of muse: DILO OTRA VEZ! I dare you! You try studying for a psycho teacher, deciding what you want to major in, and hardly updating any stories because hardly anyone reads them and reviews them or because you have lack of time to write and edit or that you're getting writer's block, while the muse gives you more ideas, which in turn causes you to get more writer's block! It's hard!

Other Authors: WE KNOW!

Hitomi: I get it, I get it, now stop choking me!

Taichi: That was interesting.

Yamato: Yeah. College really does make a person moody.

FOT: SHUSHIT! Anyway, thank you guys for the reviews. I don't like pushing myself to write when I don't feel like it or have lack of ideas (and I don't recommend doing so unless you want a headache), but for you guys, what the hey! I'll do it, but it comes at a price (much longer editing, re-reading and editing). And I'll make one of you guys cry! I'll do it before the fic is over! Well, here we have translations and some clarifications with Hitomi!

Hitomi: Let's see (holds out coin) heads, espanol, tails, nihongo.

FOT: Yes, she's literally flipping a coin!

Hitomi: It's tails!

1. Oyasuminasai: Good Night

2. hayaoki: Early Bird

3. Soo desu: That's right/I agree

4. Moshi Moshi: Hello (when answering the phone)

5. Onii-san: older brother.

Spanish:

1. QUE: What?

2. Como lo hace: How does he/she do it?

3. Buenas Noches: Good Night

Historical:

Flapper: The flapper was what "modern" women were called in the 1920's. Actually, the flappers were sorta like liberated women. They wore lose clothes that showed their body form, and had their hair cut in a bob style. The movie "Chicago" shows some of this and could give you an idea of the bob style. Fitzgerald, for those of you that didn't know, wrote about the great depression, the jazz age, and on the flapper.

Well, do review and hope you enjoyed this. I liked writing it, though I wasn't satisfied (there's something missing!)


	11. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: If I owned them, I would be doing this to get paid. And I'd take over the world! Muahahahahahaha!

FOT: Hi! It feels like forever. School had added up and made it feel like four months when it's been two…well about two and a half. We got a new computer, so I was trying out all the new toys.

Hitomi: I'd say it but I can't. ((Coughs)) Ranma ½, the baka song ((Coughs))

FOT: I heard that, dumbass and it's called Yasashii, Ii Ko ni Narenai. Really funny. Anyway, Caught up with my notes, so here it is, hope you guys like it and I forgot what else I was going to say.

Hitomi: Good! Cuz I'm sure no one else can wait for the update. Here you go! And Yaoi Angel, poke at will! We throw tomatoes and rocks.'

FOT: Don't give them ideas! Eek, tomato barrage. Hit the fairy-muse!

Notes: None, wow.

**Silence in Shame**

**_Chapter 9_**

Tai wandered onto campus, early for once, unsure why he had this uneasy feeling about him. He could feel it already: the day was going to produce crazy results, and not the kind that would entertain anyone. It was the kind that would irritate someone later or make them excessively worried. Hikari talked about them. She said that sometimes it had to do with sharing a bond with someone. She had them with Miyako, especially since they shared a kind of bond with their digimon. He didn't want to share that kind of bond with anyone. But it was there nonetheless.

"No way to avoid it, Yagami," he whispered to himself as he passed by several students, most of them just wandering around aimlessly, others discussing or copying homework from others. Still in high school, but old habits die hard.

He managed to stifle a yawn as he passed Isis and Jubilee, who seemed to be engaged in a harsh conversation. It was clear that neither of them wanted to be discussing what they were discussing, but it needed to be done. He managed to make eye contact with Isis, but tried to pass it off.

"Morning Taichi," Isis quickly announced before she could be ignored.

"Hey," he smiled, leaning against the wall with them. "Nice gig. Um…that last song…interesting."

"More like obscene," Jubi scoffed. "Didn't even warn us about that…that pain in the ass. Yes Yamato, our opinion doesn't matter in songs that sound too morbid. And go off whenever you want, leaving your band mates, minus one, confused at the end of the night. When I see him, I'm going to wring his neck!"

Isis gave her a slight shove out of irritation. "Ignore her, she's been like this for the past two days. And the weather only makes it worse. Damn those dark clouds. Anyway, she's really mad at Yamato, especially after he disappeared."

"More like ran from his problems."

Tai gave them both a confused look. "Disappeared?"

"Yeah," Isis said, gloomily. "He left before the last band played. Just walked out of the lounge without any of us knowing. We were supposed to sleep over at my house, but he just left."

"Like the pain in the ass that he is!" Jubi snapped. "His song was cryptic, I tell you, cryptic! I can't get it out of my head! And his tone was unlike him and us!"

Isis ignored Jubi as she started her rant and cuss. She turned her attention to Taichi, who looked like someone threw his cat out the window.

"I doubt you've seen him," she said. "But if you do, warn him that Jubi is going to kill him. Anyway, I couldn't help listening to what he was wishing for. He's been dealing with depression for a while, now. I know you saw that he was anorexic. Stupid idiot thought no one knew. We just didn't know how to approach him."

"Was that what you two were talking about before you forced me to interrupt?" he asked.

Isis drew in a sharp breath, letting it out slowly. It was evident that she had a hard time discussing it with others. "Yeah. The deal had been for us all to approach him at once. We thought if we involved you that you might have gotten a better chance at getting him to respond. I tried to get in contact with him after he left the gig, but he shut off his cell phone. I've been trying to contact him to no avail."

The bell rang before Tai could comment on anything. But instead of heading to his class directly, he asked Isis if he knew which classroom was Whitman's. After obtaining the information he needed, he began his walk towards her room, grateful it was right near his first class. He popped his head into the room, finding his teacher at his desk, waiting for his students to arrive.

"Sakamoto Sensei?" he asked, walking up to the man. "I'm sorry to say, but I'm going to be a little late for class this morning. I have to speak with another teacher for a few minutes. She's close, just so you know."

Sakamoto rubbed the bridge of his nose. The first time his student was early in a long time and he wanted an excuse to be late. "Five minutes, Yagami. No more than that, you hear me?"

"Yeah," he muttered as he walked to the next room, finding Whitman preparing herself for a lecture. "Whitman Sensei," he said, grabbing her attention from the doorway. "May I speak to you for a few minutes?"

She nodded, excusing herself as she walked toward the young man. "What do you need?"

He wasn't sure how to word it properly as he looked at her calm face. "I was wondering if you went to Yamato's gig by any chance."

"Why yes I did. I went and enjoyed his performance. Very good player."

"Yeah. Um, did you hear his last song?"

"Ah, the one that spoke about losing himself and wanting it to stop. Yes I heard it. It caught me by surprise. I didn't expect him to write something like that. But then again, he has been acting strangely, hasn't he? So did you want to know what he wrote in there?"

Tai looked at her in surprise, then nodded.

"Alright. He spoke about having been taken from someone he cared greatly for, wondering if that was what was supposed to happen, as if it was fated. He can't handle it anymore and just wants it to end, just for it all to stop. He doesn't want to handle it anymore and wants to return to his reality, but he can't, since it's all been done to the point it can no longer be undone. He wants to end it himself, even if it means never being himself again. I've already alerted the administrators and his parents. There was no way I could have let that slide by."

"So he wants to commit suicide."

"That's the gist of it. And there was no way I wasn't going to tell someone. I mean, even if it was just unleashing some aggression, it's not something someone should just easily push aside. I hope he found help. I haven't seen him. I talked to his mother, recently, but she said that they hadn't seen him, either. I'm sure that he'll turn up, though."

"Yeah. Well, I got to get to class."

She nodded as she walked back to her class, turning to see that Tai had already entered his class. She shook her head as she entered her class, ready to begin lecturing.

((123))

Yamato tried his best to stay perfectly still. He was caught. There was no way he would get out of it, even if he tried. He was spread eagled on the hard floor, his hands bound behind his back so he couldn't move either, left alone with a large vibrating dildo lodged up his ass by a harness. The day's work was visible on his back and legs. He had been close to doing his task, but he had been caught, sadly. And now, there he was, naked and a hard cock that wouldn't cool down, no matter how much he willed it to. There was no doubt in his mind that they had a camera hidden somewhere, recording his pants and grunts.

They had yet to give him an aphrodisiac. But Als…that sadistic whore…she was the one that tied his hands behind his back, making sure it was both uncomfortable and difficult to move. She had him grip each hand as close to his elbows as possible in a near criss-cross motion, taping then down, then taping it together in the center. She let Lu have his fun after that, setting a down in front of his face so she could grab his expression as Lu did what he wanted.

He was surprised Yanni was nowhere in sight. Maybe she left, he wasn't sure. He hadn't seen her since the gig. Maybe she was in her room, away from everything, hopefully. He wouldn't want her to find him like this, never. He was at least glad that it was so.

He turned slightly as he heard the door open from behind. Lu came inside with a small object in one hand and a candle in the other. He closed the door just in time to hear a fervent array of knocking against the door. Yamato strained his hearing enough to hear Yanni screaming protests at the door and what could only be cursing coming from her delicate words.

Lu gently placed the candle over one of Yamato's various wounds and then showed him the small circular object that looked like a branding stick.

"You know, this hasn't been used in nearly five years. The last time it was used was when one of my previous lovers said he never wanted to be with anyone else. He had this obsession with metal molding and made this for me. He said the metal was just enough to be heated by a candle. I never tried it, but he did it himself, saying that no one else would ever be able to touch him, and gingerly branded himself. He managed to make this fantastically shaped 'L' in the center, lifted just enough so that no marks would ever be seen between it and the circle around it. But I've always been curious if it did heat up enough to brand a person by a candle's flame. Do you want to try it Yamato?"

"Light it, heat it, and burn your balls with it."

Violent vibrations escalated through Yamato, forcing him to come, before the dildo was pulled out. Lu's laughter sounded through his ears as he heard a match being lit. He knew what would happen next, but rather than being left again, the candle was lifted. Next his hands were untied as well as his legs, to his surprise.

"Do whatever you have to. But you better be back in this room within the next hour," Lu said, walking out of the room.

Yamato waited until the door closed before he stood up, looking at the wooden floor and the mat that had been placed under him. It had blood and semen, meaning it needed to be washed. They had only done this once, but threatened him if it wasn't kept clean. He picked it up with slight trouble, his arms numb. He stood up with just as much trouble, but determined to make it to the bathroom, willing himself to take a shower, a cold one.

((123))

The sounds of the rain attempting to break the glass keeping it out of the room woke the blonde from the rest he had received. It had only been two hours. He had come back to the room within an hour like he had been instructed, but immediately fell asleep. What happened wasn't known. What pain he had on his person was nothing to that which was afflicting his stomach. He wanted to lift himself up, but he was weak and tired. His body decided to follow his mind before he could make his next move, hilarious.

He was sure someone in the outside world knew what was going on, other than his anorexia. Mimi managed to see his color change even in her drunken state, including his thinning form. Oh well, it was nearly over, he could feel it. It was all punishment for treating his friends the way he had and for telling his story through song for those willing to listen and decipher what he had said. He knew it was probably Whitman. They were probably worried. It was almost over.

He closed his eyes, ready to drift back into a dreamless sleep, not wanting to think about what else they were planning. Before he was even in the first stage of sleep, a large amount of weight was pressed against him, holding him down. Panic took over as a natural reaction, making him squirm about, trying to get free.

"Don't you dare move. You do and I swear I'll shove this thing up your ass. You make me fuck up and I'll do it too."

He stopped moving, feeling the pressure increase rather than decrease. Lu patted his head like he was a worthless mutt on the street. "Good boy, good boy."

Mat found himself lying motionless as the hot metal he was shown earlier was pressed against his skin. It lasted for only a few seconds before it was applied a second time, longer than the first time. He clenched his teeth in order to keep himself from making any noise. Lu smacked his backside once before giving Mat's ass a harsh squeeze and walked out the door.

Mat let the silent tears roll down his cheek, knowing what Lu had done. He was branded and owned now. There was no way getting out of the fate of being a "pet." His head throbbed and his eyes felt hot and swollen. His throat hurt from yelling unheard pleas.

His gaze landed on the clock, reading 2:36 AM. His torment had lasted for three days, with hardly any sleep. He shut his eyes and returned to the dreamless sleep he both loved and hated. He never thought dreaming would become a fear, but it had. He was afraid of being reminded of why he decided what he had, how he tried, and how he failed. The consequences that followed…those warped themselves among other memories, making them worse than they were.

He felt someone moving him. He kept silent and motionless. If Lu wanted to make believe he was having sex with a corpse, then he wouldn't get in the way and risk being strangled into unconsciousness. But it wasn't any touch of perversion. He was being covered, clothed. He opened his eyes when the moving stopped. There were Yanni's eyes, gazing at him from the ground.

"Ju're sik," she said in a foreign accent he couldn't place. She pushed him off the bed and began to shove him out of the house, limply. "Git out! Ju'll git us all sik. Git out, git out, git out!"

She managed to herd him out of the house and into the cold rain as quickly as she could before slamming the door and locking him out. Lu ran down the stairs after hearing the door slam shut. He stared at Yanni with fierce eyes. He jolted to the room in which he had left Yamato, finding it empty. In a fit, he ran back down the stairs, already receiving a small audience as Als came downstairs, her hair wet from a shower.

"What's going on?" she asked, only to get ignored, much to her irritation.

"What the fuck did you do!" he asked Yanni, who was looked innocently angry.

"I did what I was su'posed to do, take care of dis house. Keeping clean, care for doz' inside all cos's. He vas sik, so I git him out."

"What! God I. . .If only you weren't mental, I'd-"

"If only ju eren't mental, I'd leave dis house un enjoy de quiet life down de streat un git better pay, but no! NO, I hav' to stay h're un keep ju un that chil' safe from ju'selves."

She continued her fit in a language Lu couldn't make sense of until she returned to her room and immediately looked out the window. The blonde was nowhere in sight. With a smile on her face, she lifted Hitome from her perch on the nightstand and whispered in triumph: "We've saved him, we've saved him, we've saved him!"

((123))

Whitman hadn't been kidding about reporting Yamato's suicidal mind to his parents and the authorities. Tai was merely hoping that a scandal wouldn't arise. He had already received a phone call from Yamato's mother and father asking for help in searching for their son. He gave what little help he could, asking other classmates if they had seen him, helping put up posters, and asking complete strangers if they had seen Yamato anywhere. But they still had no leads. He wished that his Mother hadn't left to where she had. She would have had more ideas as to what they could do and she would have had more time to help in the search.

He was sure that Yamato's father had done something at the station he was working at. Probably, he wasn't sure. But he didn't stop his own search until it was late at night.

He was exhausted by the end of the day, ready to skip whatever homework he had to do and just sleep, but he couldn't sleep with the worry that was overtaking him. What was wrong with Yamato? Why would he just disappear like that? It was as though he just flew off the face of the earth, ready to never return.

((123))

Mat gripped himself as the cold rain hit his body. He was out? Was he just kicked out by Yanni? He gathered himself together, without shoes or a shirt, as he started to try speed walking away from the house. He had to get away before they thought it was his doing. There was only one safe spot he could think of as he continued his walk. The little voice in his head continuously told him that someone wanted him alive, he had many places to choose from, so why not he one that would receive him quickly.

He started at a very slow run whenever he made it to one of the main streets, trying his best to conserve his energy the best he could. One person kept running through his head: Lu. If he caught up, he was as good as dead. He had to get to Tai's.

"C'mon you retarded pain in the ass! Get your butt in gear and move!" he told himself.

He ran a little more before he started to sway a bit and leaned against a light post. It was taking forever to get to Tai's house. The last time he passed by it took an hour by walking, now it seemed to be taking longer. He pushed himself off the light post and continued walking to Tai's, perchance it would be on the next street, seeing as he was no longer paying attention to any of the street signs. He walked another fifteen minutes before he finally saw that familiar place. He moved up the steps, wanting to get up to that door. He walked up to it and banged on it weakly, waiting for an answer, any answer. It was too cold.

((123))

Taichi woke up, gazed at the clock and noted it was only around four in the morning. He had hours of sleep left. What time had he gone to sleep? Midnight? No it was later than that. He let out a loud yawn, the light knocking got fainter. He made a mental note to murder Kari if she was the one knocking on the door.

"Damn you Kari. You keep me up till what? One in the morning trying to get me to say 'yeah, sure. I won't kill Hojo if he calls and asks if you're home.' Go ahead and head to your friend's sleep-over, I won't mind if you come knocking on the door at four AM!" he said, groggily.

The rain hitting the window was growing harder and louder trying to get into the apartment as the seconds rolled by. He could barely hear the knocking, now. A thunderous knock was left as the final sound, other than the rain. Tai felt his heart stop for a second, but then regained his agitation.

"Kari, if that's you, I'm gonna kill you!" He looked trough the peephole, but it wasn't a brunette he saw. "Looks like a yellow blob. It can't be Kari."

Tai opened the door and had only seconds to catch the falling body. At first, he didn't recognize the form, but. . .

"Yamato!"

He was shirtless and soaked from head to toe. His body was ice-like. A small shade of blue was starting to take his skin, but his lips were nearly purple. Tai barely caught the marks on Mat's body. He couldn't think with what he saw. Finally one thought struck his mind.

"I have to call the police."

"No," Yamato said, shaking violently and opening his eyes slightly. Tai could barely hear him. "No police, no hospitals, please."

Tai had to shake himself out of the stun that Mat had placed him in.

"Where the hell were you!" he yelled as he pulled Mat's dead weight inside and closed the door with his foot. "Everyone's been looking for you, idiot."

He couldn't help feeling Mat's freezing body against his own, knowing if he didn't get him warm quick, he probably wouldn't last the rest of the night, probably not a few hours, either. Mat had to go to a hospital, but Tai couldn't say no to him. A bulb lit in his head, yet he knew the chances . . . but it was worth a try.

"Mat, I know you're going to flip, but you've heard that body heat warms a person up the quickest, right?" No reply. "Well, you're going to have to trust me, okay?"

He didn't wait for a reply. Tai ran to his room and pulled the blanket from his bed and a pair of boxers from his clothes. He ran back to Mat, who was shaking a bit more than he had been before, and started to take off whatever clothes was left, but put on the clean, dry pair of boxers. Tai took off his own shirt and pants, pulling Mat's limp, cold form to himself, almost screeching when the coldness hit his own body. He didn't let him go, regardless of how cold he was quickly becoming. He put the blanket around both himself and Yamato, wrapping his arms around the blonde under the blanket, trying to get his warm as quickly as he could.

"Jeez, Mat! I have no idea what you were doing in the rain this late at. . .well early in the morning. If you die on me, I swear I'll kill you myself."

Tai felt Mat shake a little, as though he was laughing. Yamato only managed to mouth a "sorry."

"I hope you know I was being serious. I feel like dumping you in a warm bath to get you warm quicker, but I think that would be worse. I don't remember what they said about frostbite and room temperature water, damned it. Even if I did, I don't know if those rules apply to the human body. You know you'd be in an ambulance by now with an I.V.? You're lucky I can't say 'no' to you. I'd prefer that you be in an ambulance right now, where I feel you'll live instead of in my arms feeling that you're going to die! I swear if you die on me, I'll never forgive myself and I'll hate myself for letting you pass on."

Tai wasn't sure what else to say, but he was sure the most he could do was just hold on to Mat and try to get him warm quickly. He pulled Mat closer, having his head rest against his shoulder, and threw the blanket over Mat's head, as he looked around the room. Wasn't there anything he could use to warm him faster? The quicker he got warmer, the less worried Tai could get. He spotted the heater next to the radio, not plugged in.

"Oh great! That's going to help."

Tai dragged himself along with Mat towards the radio, continuously checking to make sure Mat was covered, and plugged the heater in, putting the temp in High. He made sure that he and Mat were far from it, so he wouldn't burn himself.

"Okay, now I'm sure you're not going to die, but I'd still like you to open your eyes to reassure me."

He looked at Yamato's form, eyes slightly closed.

"How do I get him to respond? What if he's dead?" Tai placed his hand on Mat's chest, finally getting a signal of life. "No, I can feel his heart beating. I wonder if he can even hear me."

He kept his eyes on the blonde, hugging him tightly, wondering if the blonde could really hear him. He heard of such instances, but never experienced such things. It was worth a try.

"Mat, did you know that I dreamt about the lake and when we confessed that we liked each other on the way home from Australia? I wanted to tell you that it was the best day of my life, even though I did get sick for two weeks. But I would have kicked Jet's ass if something had happened to you. But you stayed by my side . . . well, most of the time, until you got in trouble. I told you I was going to repay you somehow. I think this is that time, but I wish it wasn't. I'd rather repay you some other way. Every time I saw you since I came back, I've seen nothing but you in some kind of pain and I hate it. I just hate it. And I hate the feeling that I helped some of that pain. I'm sorry, Yamato."

Tears began to well up in Tai's eyes. He quit talking before he reached the point that he wouldn't stop. He moved Mat up to a more comfortable position before he began to drift into sleep, as well.

Hours passed before he woke up, a bit out of focus before he grew concerned again about the blonde that invaded his sleep earlier. He felt Mat's skin and noting his warmth and steady breathing made his heart relax. In his dream he had seen Mat die before him, making tears fall out on their own. He picked Mat up and dragged him to his own room. Somehow he was glad that his mom had left to his Grandma's to help her nephew get a job. Both his sister and himself still shared a room and almost sadly, he had to lie Yamato on her bed. Now, Kari could sleep in her mom's room.

He was also glad that his sister had left to a friend's house, so she was lucky she didn't have to see Mat's condition until later. He was in the process of drying the floor, hoping to have the carpet dry by the time his sister got home. He noticed that some of it the water went through the door. As he opened the front door, Kari stepped in, yawning in the process. "Speak of the devil."

"Tai, I'm home? What the hell? Why is the floor wet? Did you run into it with a glass of water, again?"

"No," he said, looking up at her. "And that happened two years ago when I was sleep walking! Yamato showed up." A questioning smile shined on her face. "He's hurt, really bad. He was out in the rain and I guess he passed out. When I opened the door, he just fell. I barely had time to catch him."

"What happened? Is he okay?"

"I don't know. He's asleep in our room right now. I don't know how he's going to be. I mean, he looks fine, just asleep, but we won't really know until he wakes up. Oh and he's on your bed, by the way."

"Too heavy for you to put him on the top bunk or you want easy access?"

"Easy—hey!"

((1234!))

FOT: There it was, you guys like? I hope you guys liked. I got out of writer's block. Yay! I'm caught up with my notes! But it looks as though there are two or three more chapters, not one.

Hitomi, dripping with tomato juice: Damn you, directing their attacks at me.

FOT: Oh, it wasn't the reader's attacks. It was LU and ALS! Yanni needed some entertainment.

Hitomi: You owe me.

FOT: Anyway, review! And thank you to all that have!


	12. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** Do you think we need one anymore, Hitomi? Summer laziness, I know. Oh well. Me no own, me go to sleep. 

Okay, First off:

Jeremy: thank you for the luck with school work.

Ryuu-Takahashi: Hahaha! You can't keel me! I have protection…don't know what kind….but I do!

Second: This is short…well to me it is…I tried to lengthen it to the best of my ability, to no avail. So it's left as is.

Hitomi: ahh, the summer. Pretty erratic weather. But, we managed to edit this as is, which was still satisfactory. Work helped with this.

FOT: yeah, just wish it was longer.

Hitomi: Yeah, so we added in another scene at the end…I'm sure CitrisPeach will enjoy that, although it's short.

Notes:_ text_ is thoughts. Unless other wise stated

**Chapter 10**

When the school day had finished, Hikari couldn't help but be glad. IT was difficult to concentrate when her mind was more focused on her brother and his ex boyfriend. Tai had hardly slept since Yamato had entered the house, and even when he did sleep, it was usually for an hour or so in a fitful kind of slumber. Although it was the case, they had discussed whether or not to tell anyone. Tai decided not until they heard what happened to Yamato. Kari didn't argue.

She was actually afraid of running into Takeru. If he asked her anything about Yamato, she wouldn't be able to hold anything from him and Tai had asked her not to say anything until Yamato woke up and at least said something. Luckily, they weren't in the same class or it would have been even harder on her. In fact, she spent more than half her walk to school trying to figure out what she would tell T.K. when she saw him. Of course she had been avoiding him for nearly three days, and it was getting harder as time went by.

_Okay, Kari. First thing's first: Check on Yamato. If he's doing well, then you tell Takeru. But you must go over this with Tai first. No surprises for him. He's a bit on edge. Yeah, I'll just wait until Yamato's up._

Once home, she ran inside and announced herself as she made her way to her room. She noted her brother was practically still in the same position from three days ago. She placed a hand on his shoulder and saw his pale face from lack of sleep and lack of nutrition, as well as nearly becoming a caffeine addict.

"How is he today?" she asked, nabbing his attention much more fully.

"I still think I should have taken him to a hospital, but I can never say no to him, no matter how bad the situation is."

"So his hasn't changed?"

"I can't tell. He doesn't look as bad as he did, if anything. He looks well rested."

"Which is the opposite of your current condition. Tai, get some sleep. I'll watch him while you rest, okay?"

"No. He's my responsibility. I have to watch him and you have a future to work to."

"Like you don't. Get some sleep and if he wakes, I'll wake you. I'll just have to do my homework here instead of a room where I can post these very revealing pictures that I can bribe you with later on and . . ."

A pillow hit her head with a "Yeah, right" coming from her brother. Tai merely lied on the floor and was instantly asleep. Content that her brother was finally being fully responsible, Kari placed the pillow that had been flung at her under her brother's head and threw a blanket over him. Satisfied, she went to get some food before she began her studies, making herself comfortable in the chair Tai had abandoned.

((123))

Yamato wasn't sure where he was, but he was positive it was a dream. He was in water, although this one only reached his knees. And although it was night, he was able to see everything around him clearly. In the distance, he was able to hear a guitar's vibrations ripping through the air. It was as hope filled as it was slightly depressing, but he began walking toward the sound anyway. Soon words began to fill the air, although other instruments muffled the sound. Before long, he finally found the area where it was coming from. He hadn't even noticed that he had stepped out of the water and onto a raft with a band-house atop it. He opened the door and entered, finding it completely empty yet filled with the fading sound of a song. It led him to the roof, which he followed through a window that was low enough to reach. There, he saw the darkened figure standing on the edge, his hands drawn outward as though he could fly if he started moving them. Before he could reach the other, Yamato saw them leap off the roof. He ran toward the edge, but only saw the descending figure of Tai through the clouds caused by waves hitting what was now a cliff.

Yamato opened his eyes, now scared out of sleep. He blinked a few times, trying his hardest to rid himself of sleep, but panicked nonetheless, shooting from the bed when he did not recognize his surroundings. He didn't notice someone bolt up to him, embracing him.

"Hey! Yamato, it's okay. It's okay. It's me! It's Kari!" she nearly yelled.

He calmed slightly before giving her a good once-over. His eyes adjusted to the light before clearly seeing her. He flung his arms around her, giving her a tighter hug than she had bothered. She merely rubbed his back lightly, letting him know everything was fine. It wasn't long before he was holding on lightly, given that he was still tired and weak.

"Oy, Yamato, don't scare me like that again," she said, a smile playing on her voice.

"I'm sorry. It's just … I didn't know where I was. I had this dream and . . . Where's Tai?"

"Asleep. I promised to wake him once you woke up, but he had . . . been up for three days."

Yamato pulled her out at arms length. "He hasn't slept in .. .! Why'd he do that for!"

Yamato tipped forward a bit, exhaustion fully fighting him, but Kari caught his shoulders. She lied him back onto the pillow and put a hand to his forehead. "Calm down. He wasn't awake all the time. He would only sleep for an hour or two during the night, but he's stubborn. Anyway, you still have a fever and your skin color has hardly improved. How long has it been since you've eaten?" He turned away from her face, but she forced him to look at her. "I'm not asking for you to answer me. I'm telling you to. How long?"

"A full meal or a bite?" She shot him dagger eyes as soon as his reply came. "Nearly four months."

"What! Why?" No answer. "Look, Takeru's worried about you, Tai is, I am, everyone is. Please tell me."

"I can't," he said. He looked wearily at her, inhaling in exasperation. "I know you don't like that answer, but that's it."

"Be that way. I have to finish my homework. If you change your mind about that answer, tell me. I'm almost done."

Yamato just looked at her as she sat in her comfortable position again before he spoke. "When you're done with your work, can you tell me how Tai has been?"

"Sure," she said smiling.

She opened her textbook and continued her work. When she was done, she turned to Yamato, ready to dish, but he had fallen asleep. She took his example and did the same, fixing herself a spot on the floor close to her brother.

((123))

The room was lit by a small lamp Kari had used the night before to complete her homework. It was the only thing lighting the room in the morning hours. Soon a muffled beep filled the silence of the room. Kari woke up with the Hello Kitty alarm clock next to her ear. She looked next to her and saw Taichi still asleep. How long had he been out? Twelve hours? She gazed at the clock sleepily. It was 7:30 AM, as she closed her eyes to . . . Wait. .

"I'M LATE!" she yelled as she rushed out of the room to the bathroom and took a quick cold shower, given she had no time to really let the water warm up. BAD IDEA, KARI! She ran to her room, grabbed her school clothes to change in her mother's room, grabbed her backpack and then ran back to her room. Yamato was awake, no doubt by her scream, and looked around to see where the fire was. Miraculously, Tai was still asleep. He watched as the flash that was Kari rushed around the room, picking up her textbooks and placing them in her bag. Putting on her socks with one hand, she spoke to Yamato.

"Tell Tai I didn't want to wake him up, cuz he had just fallen asleep. And I was late to school and he needed his rest. Now, you stay on that bed otherwise you will have me to deal with, not Tai. I'll be back later on! Bye Yama, love ya!"

Yamato stared as the little brunette run out of the room after kissing his forehead, then heard the front door slam shut. He leaned over the bed and saw Tai asleep just like Kari had indicated. He was about to get off the bed when the front door opened again and Kari screamed, "Don't you dare get off that bed!" before shutting it again. Psycho if not psychic. He shifted his position to get a better view of Tai. Peaceful, calm, but he was shaking. _Here I am warm on the bed with four layers worth of blankets on me while he has one and is freezing his ass off. How thoughtful is that? _Yamato pulled one of the blankets off and reached over to throw it on Tai. He was trying to adjust it when he fell off the bed with a loud THUD on the floor. Tai instantly woke up from his sleep and saw Yamato getting up.

"Yamato!"

"Ohayoo, Tai. You won't wake up with Kari's self-made twister, but you'll wake up with a body on the floor, that's what I missed."

Tai moved to Yamato and threw his arms around him, not wishing to let him go. Yamato hadn't placed his arms around Taichi, afraid of his own reaction more than Tai's. "You were so cold, I thought you were going to die," he said. "But you're like a cat, nine lives."

"If I'm a cat with nine lives, then that makes you . . .okay so I don't know what that makes you."

"Grateful that you're alive. Never, ever do that to us again! You die and I'll kill you myself!"

"Is that a promise?"

Tai smacked him over the head, once. Yamato stood, but immediately noted that pain in his legs from the half run, which made him collapse against the bed. Tai sat next to him and yawned.

"Why don't you go back to sleep?" Yamato asked, surprising Tai a bit.

"Nah, I sleep too much as it is. I'm just wondering why Kari didn't wake me up."

"Oh, she said you needed your rest and she was late."

"Sounds like her," he said getting up. "I'm going to take a shower and then make some breakfast. Are you going to want anything specific?"

"No, I'm not hungry. But you really need the shower."

"Shut up."

((123))

Yamato was lying on the bed again, after Tai had threatened to break his arm if he didn't while he took a shower. During that time he tried to recollect what happened the night he left Lu's hold. Lu…Yanni…Als…he had to be careful. If they thought he called the police…but they said the only way he would be able to get out is if one of them kicked him out and Yanni had. Technically she's a member of their household and holds as much of the authority as Als and Lu. She had only proved it the few times she protected him.

He wasn't given much more time to think as Tai entered the room, nearly half an hour after he declared he would take a shower. But he didn't enter empty handed like Yama hoped. He had a bowl of soup in one hand and a glass of juice in the other.

"I think it's better if we have breakfast here," he said, smiling as he placed the food on the nightstand. "I'll be back, I didn't have enough arms to carry all the food."

Once he was back, Tai sat next to Mat and picked up the bowl of soup. Yamato quickly noted that there was more than one bowl.

"I know you like to eat, but why so much?"

Tai looked at him with a questioning look in his eyes. "One is for me and the other is for you. The only way you're going to get back on your feet is by eating plenty and resting just as much…including the occasional walk around."

"But I'm not hungry."

"You can't say that. You've been asleep for four days and you haven't had a meal. How can you not be hungry?"

"I'm just not."

"Yes you are, so just eat at least some of it. Half the bowl."

Tai began to lift the spoon toward Yamato, only to have the other turn away. He continuously tried, having good intentions, until Yamato dropped the spoon.

"I said I wasn't hungry, Tai! Get it through your head!"

"Fine," he muttered. "You want to be a stubborn mule, go ahead. I won't get in involved in the process of you killing yourself."

Tai got up, ready to leave the room.

"That's just uncalled for."

"No!" he yelled, standing straight on the doorway. "What's fuckin' uncalled for is having everyone tell you that your damned boyfriend—correction, ex boyfriend—is anorexic and practically disappeared from the face of the planet! Then that damned asshole tells you that he hates you and wants you out of his life. Then it's a damned paradox after that and you feel wanted, when you're clearly not. But before all that you break up without an explanation when I thought everything was good between us. And then I find you at my door, at five in the morning, practically dead, leaving me and Kari worried. I try to help you and you shove me aside. Now that was uncalled for!"

He slammed the door, forgetting that he had left everything in the bedroom and at the same time, not caring. His shoulder angel immediately started flashing a red light, deciding to add in guilt in order to strengthen the feeling that came over him. Unfortunately it was by the time he was halfway down his block. Where he had been planning to go, he wasn't even sure. His feet just wandered off.

"Loving crap," he muttered, unsure of what he should do.

Yamato, on the other hand, went over things in his head. What Tai had said was true, but he still wasn't hungry. Maybe he had just conditioned his body as such. Some people managed to do that. Eat once a day and feel satisfied…twice a day, skip breakfast, eat lunch and dinner or skip both and just eat lunch. Of course, that wasn't necessarily healthy, either. He looked at the bowl, left all alone on the nightstand…just waiting to be picked up…for its contents to be emptied. Now he was sure he needed to eat. He was personifying a bowl, for cripe's sake.

"Okay," he said, holding the bowl in his hands. "It's here, just eat it bit by bit."

((123))

Tai entered the house as though it was a pit in hell. The only time that he was this uncomfortable in his own home was when his mother was cooking something new. It was usually indicated by one of the neighbors asking if the building was on fire. But he entered nonetheless, making his way cautiously to his room. He opened the door slowly, catching Yamato making a face at the bowl, one that must have been there forever.

"Um, Yamato."

He looked up and pointed the bowl to Taichi.

"That was all I was able to eat, without 'Is this _even_ edible?' running through my mind."

Tai looked at him questioningly before looking at the contents within the bowl, which were nearly empty. He was about to apologize when Yamato stopped him.

"What you said was true, but it's going to be sad if you have to yell at me each time there's a meal and I don't want to eat, even if I have to. And even then, it's worse to make me eat your cooking."

"Hey! It's better than my mom's and it's improving. Unlike some things nowadays."

Yamato let out a deep sigh. "Next meal time, let's just order take-out?"

"Only if you eat it and not just let it rot. You avoid it and I will hold you down until you finish whatever was on the plate. Is it a deal?"

"Yeah."

((123))

Als paced the room while Yanni played with her dolls in the corner, occasionally flinging one over her shoulder. Lu paced back and forth in the room. Had it been a dirt floor, he would have dug a ditch with is pacing.

"What are we going to do?" he asked. "He's most likely called the cops by now."

"He didn't," Als said. "We would be in jail cells by now if he had. Where would he run, that's the real question."

"Possibly to his old place. He'd go somewhere familiar, that's for sure. Where the fuck can he be! Christ! I knew this was a bad idea!"

"Calm down. I'm sure he won't call the cops, seriously. He's too chicken, especially with lives on the line, if any. I mean, we have that video. I'll just get rid of the copy I have. No evidence is handy. On the plus side, we know where his brother is. We can use that and get him easily."

"It's not that easy. He's very different from others. He was very willing to give his freedom for his brother, for his family, for that lover of his. I could have had them both. But, no. One is bad enough. Either way, we can't get his brother unless we know where Yamato is. That's the only way we can threaten him into coming back."

"How are you going to figure out where he is?"

"Do you still remember what that brunette looks like? Or his brother?"

"You have a plan. And I like it so far. You know that's why I love ya."

Als pulled Lu down onto the chair so she could sit on his lap, not noticing that Yanni was making her way up the stairs as she left her dolls in the corner.

((123))

When Kari entered the house, she noted how quiet it was. She wandered into her bedroom and found both Yamato and her brother asleep. They had their arms wrapped around one another, as though about to hold hands. Yamato's free arm was draped neatly over his stomach, and Taichi's other arm was dropped neatly over his leg, while his head rested next to Yamato on the pillow. She couldn't help the smile that played on her lips as she wandered over, nudging their hands closer. Much to her amusement, they wrapped their fingers together. She unceremoniously grabbed her camera, taking a quick photo before starting her homework in the family room.

**1234!**

There it is, hope you guys liked it. Thank you and summer vacation is good. Review at will.


	13. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I still don't own digimon. If I did...I'd make a lot of yaoi lovers happy...XD**

FOT: Wow, third attempt…I mean, yay! I finally got the chance to update this one. We ran into trouble with starting this chapter, as well as its development because we apparently went off our story timeline.

Hitomi: Yes, very off. That and Yamato decided now was a good time to be a rebelious a-hole and didn't want to play.

Yamato: I knew what you were going to do and I won't do it!

FOT:Yes you will.

Yamato: No!

Hitomi: I think he needs more time in the box.

FOT:No. Anyway, I have no excuses for not submitting this sooner...actually I do. Japanese and English…research papers, and hundreds of pages to read…and expos…busy few months…oh and of course laziness, and starting five new fics…only two of which have been updated. (smiles) That and we had a bit of trouble with Yamato several times.

Hitomi: But that was taken care of. So without further interruption, here is the chapter:

**Silence in Shame by Fairyoftwilight**

**Chapter 11**

One step at a time, he stood up from the bed, legs weak from being bedridden for a week. Taichi hadn't let him miss any meals, practically force-feeding him when he refused. Whether or not he was being honest, the brunette didn't believe him. Sometimes the food he managed to eat wanted out minutes later. It frustrated him when he was HUNGRY and his stomach rejected food. In fact, the little he had taken in that morning decided it wanted out.

One step at a time, he walked to the bathroom, hoping with his all that the brunette didn't see him. The fact that the ground wouldn't hold still was driving him insane. It was bad enough that he hadn't showered in several days, but Taichi had to help him to the bathroom every day. He could only hope that a shower helped make him feel better. Damn him getting sick.

But there was no way around it. Yanni kicked him out when it was pouring. She would have done it even if a meteor were about to crush them.

'I have to go back,' he thought.

Hopefully, Taichi hadn't seen any of the scars on his body. Especially the long one on his arm, or the brand on his back. He wasn't sure how he'd react when he sees it. It was the last thing he wanted to worry about. Right now he needed to focus on making it to the bathroom without throwing up on the way.

He didn't notice that he already made it to the bathroom door, but was grateful to feel something that indicated he was out of the room. Again, he thought about the fact that he was wearing Tai's clothes. 'If he saw anything, he would have said something, but I haven't changed in days.' The thought of walking back to Tai's room to look for new clothes made his stomach churn. He stuck with his original plan: Let his stomach do what it wanted, then take a shower. Much to his sadness, his stomach decided to change its plans and wanted to keep everything it got from that morning, leaving Yamato feeling awful. He would have made himself throw up, if not for the fact he hated both the feeling and taste of vomit.

'Okay,' he thought as he started to pull his shirt off. 'Just a quick shower. Then I'll get new clothes.'

He turned, catching his reflection in the mirror next to him. He looked ghastly. His face was pale, although he didn't look like the dead anymore, but the bags under his eyes were the only indication he had of how tired his body was, but his mind wasn't focused on getting better. His mind was still stuck in an ever-playing loop of how he was just avoiding the inevitable. He was going to go back, if only for Yanni's sake. And there was a high chance he'd get caught. Then he'd have to convince them he hadn't done a thing.

He was aware of the ever-present threat Als presented to his family. But they had made it clear someone within their circle had to let him go in order for anything they had over his head to be null and void. Yanni was in their circle, even if she was…was there a nice way to put it? No, there was no nice way to put it…she was insane and…completely in her own world aside from all the times she helped him. He smiled inwardly at this thought. In her own awkward way, she did go beyond what she had to in order to help him. And was probably still doing such.

He wasn't aware that his musings had led to finish his shower and back to Tai's room. He was glad, though. The room had stopped spinning and it was all lulled down to a light headache.

He searched around the room for a few seconds, determined to find a clean pair of clothes, even if they were a worn pair of jeans and a regular t-shirt or a pair of shorts and a muscle shirt. He was sick of pajamas, that much he knew. He managed to find a pair of jeans and one of his own shirts he had given to Tai the first time they officially shared the room as a couple. Of course, it had been Yamato's room. Kari would have probably killed them both had they made any noise and woken her up or died of embarrassment from walking in on something. But it would have been worth it.

"How long?"

Yamato turned in surprise, unaware that he had left the door open. Taichi stood at the door, arms crossed, obviously expecting an answer.

"What the hell, Tai? I'm changing!" Yamato snapped as he pulled the boxers up quickly. Lucky for him Kari had gone out grocery shopping.

"Not like I've never seen your naked ass before. Now tell me, where did the bruises come from?"

Yamato turned violently, determined to get the clothes and rush to the bathroom in order to finish dressing himself, without putting on a show. But Taichi wouldn't give him the chance. He casually walked in the rest of the way and locked the door behind him. Yamato's exit was gone. He threw the clothes on the bed, grabbing the jeans and pulling them on violently.

Yamato made a grab for the shirt, but Tai got it before him. The glare Yamato sent was slowly digging into him, but he kept his cool. One way of making someone talk was getting them pissed enough. His patience had dissipated.

"What about that scar on your arm, huh?"

"None of your business."

Yamato turned, frantically searching for another shirt. He just wanted to cover up every wordless secret his body could reveal. Bruises, scars, burn marks, they all spoke too much. But neither breathed a word of "who" except the brand on his back. He looked at Tai, managing a calm expression on his face.

"Please give me the shirt."

"First tell me."

"Damned it, Tai. It's cold, now hand me the shirt."

"First, your injuries. How did you get them."

"Fine. I fell down some stairs, banged against the door, went out, got jumped, they cut me. There, you believe my bullshit story, now hand me the shirt."

Tai shook his head, but unlocked the door. "You know. The least you can tell me is _how_ you got them. At least tell me if they were self-inflicted or not."

Yamato looked around the floor, knowing if he didn't find a shirt, he could at least find a sweater to wear for the meantime. He spotted one and made to grab it, but Tai managed to nab it before Yamato's fingers ever felt the fabric.

1"Will you stop it!" Yamato yelled, trying to grab the sweater again.

"Will you tell me what I want to know?"

"Why the hell should I? You're gonna get me sick again. So hand it over."

Tai stayed quiet for a few seconds before a mocking laugh came out.

"You know, you were practically an infant last week. You couldn't do a thing. Your fever was bad, and you couldn't even lift a glass of water by yourself. But guess who took care of you? Me. And I'm going to end up being the one to take care of you if you get that sick again, whether I like it or not!"

"I never asked for a babysitter!"

"Then stop acting like a child!"

Yamato only glared at Taichi until the shirt was thrown to him.

"I'm going to call your parents and tell them I found you."

"Don't."

Tai resisted the urge to give Yamato a piece of his mind. It was rare for him to say "no" to one of Yamato's requests, as odd as some were, but it was time to stop.

"They're worried about you and I'm not going to let it continue. I'm calling them and you can't do a thing about it."

Tai left the room, more peeved than he had ever been. Yamato stood there, aghast. It was clear that Tai had been upset even before this, but what for? Regardless of that, he had no reason to take it out on Yamato.

**(6.6)**

Taichi hung up the phone, letting a heavy sigh escape him. He was tired. And the conversation he had with Yama's mother wasn't helping. He had managed to tell her that Yamato was okay, and that was all he was able to say. He couldn't let anything out and he had no idea why. He couldn't even tell her that Yama was at his house. It had been a similar conversation with Yama's father. Takeru had added pounds to his guilt, asking a series of questions. Even Tai's answer of "Just trust me," didn't work. The only way Takeru let him go was a promise to tell him more later on.

He was about to call Isis, thinking Yama's band-mates also needed to know he was fine, when a clear and winded "Tadaima," came to him. He walked to his sister, helping her bring the groceries inside, not even bothering to ask her why she got so much. They finally got everything inside before Kari got a better look at her brother, who looked more worn than she did. Rather than to mention this, she settled for something else as she started to put away the groceries.

"How's Yama doing?" she asked.

"Good enough to NOT answer my questions. Asshole also has balls enough to ask me to not tell his family he's okay." He caught the look Kari gave him, a kind of hopeful smile, and let an exasperated sigh escape. "I couldn't tell them. I don't know why. I just couldn't. I mean, I told them he was okay, but I couldn't tell him where he was."

The expression fell, but she still gave her brother a worry-stare. "I'll give them a call later and tell them he's here. But first, I'm going to make a late lunch."

"Don't mind me if I skip, okay? I'm just tired."

"I was going to mention that, too. I thought you would have been asleep by the time I got home."

"I would have been, but a pain in the ass is in my room. Well, wake me if anything."

Tai didn't wait for her to say it as he made his way to his mother's room.

It didn't take long after for Yamato came out of the room, still a little wobbly, but walking with a bit more confidence. He spotted Kari trying to figure out what to use for ingredients. He sat down on the closest chair he could see, but decided to keep a bit of distance before he looked at what she was trying to make.

"You're supposed to wash the rice twice before you steam it," he said, making her turn in surprise.

"I didn't hear you come in. Um, I guess I'm not that much of a cook."

"I can teach you. I know how to make that dish. But it might as well wait until dinner. Why not just make sandwiches for lunch?"

**(6.6)**

Yanni stood from her spot in the center of the room, her stuffed animals and fairy figurines all around her in a large circle. In the middle were a few pictures, each overlapping the other in a small triangle form. Her black dress fell down as she went to stand in the center, next to the pictures. She turned to the crowd around her, each with a black ribbon either on their arm or their neck.

"My fellows, today marks the day that we all learned of loss. A dear brother, a dear friend, without both of whom we wouldn't have met Yamato. Today is the day that Nicholas passed from our world to another. A dear brother, he was. And a good man he will always be. Today for his memory, we would play Chopsticks, but sadly, monkey hasn't learned to play the piano." She looked at the monkey she had at her left, and shook her head "tsk" escaping from her lips as she turned to the radio on her desk. "So rather than to play Chopsticks, we will play Chopin."

As she pressed "Play" on her radio, she wandered out of her room, closing the door behind her. She made her way to the kitchen, listening to Als talking on the phone with someone and Lu looking more at ease than before.

"Yanni," he started, "there's cheese cake for you in the refrigerator if you would like some. In fact why don't you take it to your room and eat it there?"

She looked at him with a blank stare as she made her way there, staring at Als. "Delirium works both ways. But if he liked it, I guess I should, too."

Als hung up the phone and looked at Lu. "We'll have it all sorted by tomorrow afternoon. We'll have both!"

Yanni looked at Als before she started to sing, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" as she walked back to her room.

**(6.6)**

Yamato stayed on the same seat he had an hour earlier, watching as Kari set the rice on the stove. She sat down in front of him, watching as he drank more water than anything else. He had finished only half of the sandwich he prepared, declaring that it was all he could actually eat or he'd feel like throwing up. He was glad to see that she didn't press the issue and let it be as such. Even as they sat there, playing some random tracks on the stereo Kari brought out from her room, just waiting for the food to cook was boring. One was bound to crack sooner or later. But rather than to feel like he was being interrogated, Yamato decided it was his turn to question first.

"Do you by any chance know why Tai was so peeved today?" he asked, turning away slightly. She gave him a confused stare, as she struggled to find an answer. "I mean, he kind of went off on me earlier today and I'm just confused. He looked as though he had been pissed for a while, so I thought you'd know why."

"The only thing I could think of that set him off was that you kept him up all last night. You kept having these nightmares, and you'd wake him up accidentally. I guess he just wanted to make sure you were okay, so he stayed up. I guess he didn't think anything of it, but you did wake up at one point complaining that your back hurt. He took it upon himself to inspect after you rolled onto your stomach."

"Yeah, he kind of blew off on me about that. Even then, he could have asked me later. Hey, why haven't you asked? It seems to be a favorite topic lately, my life."

"I just figure you'll tell me when you want me to know. Then again, I can't blame him. I mean, you haven't muttered a 'Thank you' have you? He's missed more school than I have since you came by. He's been really worried about you and you seem to act one-way one second and another the next. I mean, what are you a true Gemini?"

He didn't respond to her and just stared at the rice. "You should check that."

Kari did move to check the rice, but she didn't let Yamato off. "I'm being honest with you. You have been acting rather two-faced. Or rather, as if there's two of you. And you do owe Tai. He has been more willing to stay up all night if only to make sure you slept okay. You haven't been sleeping well during the night. He's been making sure you eat."

"More like shoving food down my throat. He doesn't believe me when I say I'm not hungry. I'm not anorexic."

"Tell him not me. Well, I'm just saying."

"Um, did he actually call my parents?"

"Yes. Although, he didn't tell them you were here. Don't tell him I said that. It should have been your responsibility, you know."

Yamato stared off as Tome to Juri by Miyavi started to play. "I guess. Check the rice again. I think it's done. I'll help you cut the vegetables."

He let the silence win them over as Kari set the table for dinner. Even if the vegetables weren't done, they could eat the rice and wait a while before eating some more. Even before he was done, she asked Yamato if he would like some, but he shook his head. Instead, she made him cocoa. But even if he wasn't hungry, he still ate a bit of the carrot he was cutting.

It didn't take long before he bothered to speak again. "I'll call my parents tomorrow and tell them where I am."

He made his way to sit down and sip his cocoa as Tai entered the room, not as tired as he was before, but not in the mood to look at Yamato. If anything he merely sat down and ate before going back to the bedroom and sleep.

"Tai's going back to school tomorrow, so..."

"If he wakes up, just tell him to go back to sleep."

**(6.6)**

It was a difficult day. With both Tai and Kari at school, Yamato thought he'd actually get time to himself, but he was mistaken. Tai had been calling him every chance he got. If he were Koushirou, Yama would have found a computer program that automatically answered the phone saying: "Yes, Tai, I'm still alive, no I'm not hungry, yes I've eaten and I've been drinking plenty of liquids, okay? Bye." But that wasn't possible. That and even if he had wanted to call Koushirou to help him with such a project, he didn't have his cell phone and didn't really want to talk with anyone. He just wanted some time to think.

It was toward the afternoon that he decided it was time to call his parents. He was glad he didn't have to call Takeru, since Kari offered to bring him over after school. He immediately agreed. He even thought it over after Tai stopped calling and calling him: If Tai was in a decent mood, he'd tell him what he wanted to know.

Even after it all, his conversation with his parents went decently. His mother cried, of course, but she seemed grateful to see that he was okay. His father wanted to leave the station in order to see him, but Yamato managed to convince him to stay. He told them both if they wanted to call him, not to hesitate. He told his mother to relay the message to Takeru.

He was glad to see that Kari came home before Tai did.

"Did you find Takeru?" he asked.

"No. He didn't come to school today. But I called him on his cell and he hasn't replied. I left four messages."

"I'm sure he'll call later. I told mom to tell him to."

"You talked to your parents?"

"Yeah. They know I'm here and I'll be here for a while."

She didn't say anything else. She merely offered to fix him a snack, which he didn't decline.

**(6.6)**

Takeru entered the restaurant and caught the red-head sitting at the corner. He wasted no time in walking up to her asking if she was Alice.

"I'm Alice," she said, a bit of a cringe evident in her voice. "Takeru. I'm sorry Yamato couldn't make it, but he's been sick. He would have come, but he said he didn't really feel well enough to get off of bed. So he asked me to come and get you."

"Okay. Can we go? I really want to see him."

She let out a smile only Yamato knew well besides Lu and Yanni. "Of course. Let's leave now."

FOT: Yamato's a schizo isn't he? I think it's contagious. And thank you for the e-mail...it helped in motivating...sorry, I forgot who sent it! But thank you! I'll try to dish out the next chapter sooner.


	14. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Hitomi: (hic) digimon is not mine, if it was there would be SMUTTTTTTTTT from today to text year's Tuesday. Yeah! (hic)

FOT: Okay, so, Hitomi is a little drunk. And I know, I know, I took a LONG break for the previous chapter…and this one is coming in sooner than I thought! And with good reason: I'm GOING to JAPAN in the summer. (pops popper )( watches Hitomi take another swing of smirnoff) And since my brain in basically in study-mode because of one exam after another and my eyes are going to become droopy, even if I take longer for the next chapter, at least you guys will have this one, right? RIGHT! And I decided to make this one a smidge longer just for you guys, as a celebration and the fact that the next chapter may not come until after August…which means around November…if Hitomi sobers up...and school doesn't kill me. And one or two chapters left, I haven't decided! Almost to the end! What will we do, Hitomi? It's almost over!

Hitomi: I gots an idea! Let's see if Yamato-san will become an evolutionary failure!

Yamato: What? That doesn't make sense!

Hitomi: YUPPITY it does! I can see him getting pregnant now…and having a miscarriage…because men can't support the pain of childbirthing. (evil drunk grin)

FOT: (holds head) Ignore her, please. And now, on with the chapter!

**Silence in Shame by Fairyof Twilight **

**Chapter 12 **

Yanni paced back and forth at the front door, waiting impatiently for the door to open. When it finally did, she grabbed a surprised Takeru by the hand, and ran to her room, locking the door quickly once she was in. There was no way she'd let Als get inside or even get a chance to turn the knob.

"What's wrong with you!" Takeru yelled as Yanni turned, giving him an angry stare.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!" she yelled, close to hitting Takeru with the closest thing she got her hands on. "I thought I gave you the freedom you desperately needed, but no! You just had to come back. What the hell are you? A masochist? And you cut your hair. Great. You know, that won't help any. Ya know, I stuck my neck out for you and this is how you repay me? Ungrateful idiot."

"What the fuck are you talking about? I just came here to see Yamato. Where is he?"

Yanni stared at TK, both relieved and confused. "You're not Yamato? Then he's okay, thank god. You should have stayed out there with him. Now you're stuck in here with me. You're really stupid. He must have told you, so why did you come?"

Takeru couldn't help the confused look on his face as he saw her sticking a mirror under the door. She didn't jump in surprise as Takeru had once Als started cussing and banging the door for the second time. TK just stared as Yanni moved to shove a chair under the doorknob in order to keep them from knocking down the door as she muttered, "That'll keep the rats out."

"What the hell's going on?" TK asked anxiously. "I just came here to see my brother. So can I please see him?"

"You really are stupid. I told you, he's not here! You're the one that was dragged here in order to lure him back, like a cow to slaughter. Your brother's freakin' Eve, you're the apple, she's the serpent, and who ever the hell follows your brother is Adam. Get it! You're the tempting bait! They're out to get him back. Now you sit down and wait for my signal. Just trust me, I'll get us out of this mess."

"Who are you? And what are you talking about!"

"Me? I'm just Yanni. The vampire outside the door is Alice. And the zombie is named Louis. And, you'll live as long as you listen to me."

((6.6))

Yamato had been sitting in the bedroom long after Tai had come home, trying to figure out when would be the most appropriate time to talk to Tai. But there didn't seem to be any. By the time Tai got home, he heard him already spilling to his sister. Tai had been given a week to complete all the assignments that were given during the time he was absent due to his "family emergency." Except his math instructor, who required it to be done in three days.

Yamato had noticed the first day Tai stayed up till two in the morning, then woke up at five to continue where he left off, especially with the literature and history essays he had to write. The work was piled on and Yamato noticed Tai was becoming more easily agitated as equation and equation added on.

"Goddamned it!" Yamato heard Tai yell. "I'm NOT GOING TO BECOME A MATHEMATICIAN OR A SCIENTIST! Why the hell do I need to know how to convert milligrams into grams in order to get the goddamned cc to heat up water? I'll just use a gods-be-damned stove to do that! Or a microwave! Math! It's everywhere! Even in English, with this 1,000 word essay and history with how many people died in this rebellion here. Goddamned it, I need a beer."

"Sure, kill more brain cells you never use," Hikari laughed out, only to have Tai chuck one of his textbooks at her.

Yamato decided to wait a little longer. Meanwhile, he thought of all the possible outcomes that would result from his telling Tai, which included a swift, "Get out of my life. I never want to see you again." No sooner had he thought of that response did his mind make it a point to say 'Oh yeah, right! Tai's a forgiving lunatic. He's forgiven me even after I told him to become my bitch. No matter what I did, it had no effect. He kept forgiving me.' Yamato smiled while his mind kept ranting to himself. 'He's too much of a good person. His spot of heaven is a given, much like mine in hell.'

It wasn't more than two hours later that Hikari walked into the room, saying she was going to go to Hojo's. He was amazed that Tai hadn't thrown a fit. He made it a point to talk to him now, but he ended up standing at the hallway that linked the bedroom to the living room.

Yamato didn't know how long he stood there, trying to figure out whether to interrupt Tai and his studies or not. The last thing he wanted was to set Tai off, again. But he took several breaths before he decided now was a better time than never. And if he got a textbook chucked at him, the most he could do was help, since he was better at some subjects than Tai was.

The phone rang as soon as he took the first step. He waited for Tai to cuss a stream of words before he answered the phone. Judging from his expression, it was his mother.

"Hi, mom…Everything's fine…Yamato's staying over for a few days, that's all…Yes, I'll call you if anything goes wrong. Don't worry, I'm not going to forget to feed the cat. It dies, I die. Got it…uh huh…he's doing fine…yeah…Don't worry, stay as long as you have to. Make dad stay, too. I have it under control and so does Kari, so don't worry."

Tai turned and caught Yamato with a look as though someone was playing the moonlight sonata at his funeral. Yamato whispered, "I have to talk to you," which caused Tai to let out a minor sigh.

"Mom, I have to let you go…yeah…I promise…I love you, too. Bye mom."

He put the phone back on its receiver, not once taking his eyes off Yamato. "What? And if this is to tell me off about the other day, forget it. I'm busy."

"No. I know you're busy. I've been waiting for the right time, but there's no such thing, is there?"

Tai walked up to the blond and crossed his arms, still agitated from schoolwork. "Yeah. So what?"

Yamato couldn't help the knot in his throat as he thought about how to phrase his sentences without making Tai more agitated. But how would he know what did and didn't work without first trying something? He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. When Tai looked as though he was about to walk back to his schoolwork, Yama's voice box decided it was now or never. Without even thinking about it, the words came out.

"You're not going to believe me. But everything I've done has been for your protection. I doubt you'll understand until you're put in the position I am. So, I'm sorry that I haven't been able to be open with you and to tell you what's happened. But it had to be done."

Yamato was expecting Tai to tell him to shut up, but instead Tai merely moved to the spot where all his school materials were.

"Are you going to tell me how you got those bruises? And what's been going on?"

Yamato took a deep breath and fiddled with the sweater he had on. "Yeah."

Taichi proceeded to put away everything he had out from school. The elongated silence that passed during that point made Yamato want to change his mind, but he knew he couldn't. Either he did it now or he didn't do it at all.

Tai turned around as soon as all his things were put away, and noted Yamato was still fidgeting with his sweater. He took a seat and motioned for Yamato to sit next to him. Yamato did, although he was still nervous to the point that his stomach decided now was the perfect time to start doing acrobatic moves. He continued to fiddle with his sweater until he forced his hands to stay still and took a deep, shaky breath.

"Okay," Yamato exhaled. "After you left for Australia…we had this gig at a new club. This guy approached me and started to compliment me and asked if I'd like to have a thing with him. I said no, because I was with you and he showed up at this other gig. There, he didn't leave me alone. He was starting to go after Takeru, so I stopped him. He dragged me outside and I ended up meeting his psycho girlfriend. She said I could either do what they said or they'd take Takeru. They said they had connections to make my family's life hell. I asked her what she wanted, she said my body, and I gave in. I had no choice. Later on, Als told me that she had people stationed near my parent's homes, people ready to kill at a moment's notice."

That got a reaction out of Tai, who shot sideways and pulled Yamato's collar. "What! Why didn't you call the police?"

Yamato yanked Tai's hand down. "She said if I did, the people that were stationed near my mom, brother, and dad would kill them without hesitation!"

"Didn't you think that she was bluffing?"

"Would you risk your family like that?"

Tai was about to comment, but chose to keep his mouth shut. He wouldn't have hesitated in doing the same, regardless of the consequences. Yamato had a pensive look on his face while he recollected what happened.

"I had to move into their home and there was this girl, Yanni. She's just weird, but she's the only one that bothered to help. Um, Lu said she was a cousin. Als hates her. But Yanni liked me. But I didn't know what they wanted so I didn't do anything at first, but then he stripped and beat me. He claimed I had been disobedient and beat me again, then raped me."

"That's how you got the bruises?"

"Kind of. One second he was kind and as innocent as he could be, and the next he was vicious. He did what he wanted, when he wanted. Bastard kept me in a closet for a few days, didn't eat or anything. He only took me out fuck me. Yanni got me out and acted like a shield when she could. They didn't do a thing if she had me."

"What else did he do?"

"Stuff," Yamato laughed out, but he noted the serious look on Tai's face. "Look, they did what the wanted. If they wanted to shove a vibrator up my ass and tie me to a chair for two hours, they did it. If they wanted to suspend me and whip me, they did. You name it, they probably did it."

Yamato took a deep breath, wishing he could dispatch himself from the world. But he knew that was impossible.

"Their original plan was just to keep me indoors at all times. But Lu let me go out, as long as he knew where I was and to get back at exactly the time he stated, no later. If I did, I suffered."

Yamato laughed slightly, tears coming to his eyes, but he wouldn't let them fall. "You know, at first he followed me to all my gigs, looking for you. I thought he wanted to hurt you, and I wouldn't have it. I guess they figured out where my family was by following TK and myself home. And all that happened after you left for Australia, so there was no way they'd figure out who you were. Hell they probably just started their little stalking after that first gig. Rather than to have you go through the same thing, I just decided to break things off. That's why I did what I did, and said what I said. It was all to protect you from them. I didn't say a thing because I knew the consequences."

Yamato took a deep breath, feeling some weight lift off his chest.

"And I'm not anorexic. I can't say that enough. The first few days I was there, he wouldn't give me a moment's peace. After meals, he'd have his way with me, trying out different forms of bondage, different positions, whatever he liked. It made me sick, literally. I would end up throwing up. It never failed. I did my best and tried to eat what little I could without throwing up. Imagine how hard that was. And just the thought of possibly throwing up made my stomach churn, so rather than to go through that, I just decided to limit my food intake. Besides, it does less damage that way."

Taichi sat there, staring at the ground, not knowing if there was an appropriate response to what was said. No, he knew there was NO appropriate response, he just didn't know what to say. He looked at Yamato, who had stopped playing with his sweater and had an expression of numbness on his face.

"How did you get out?"

"Yanni found a loop hole in their rules and let me loose. Kind of odd she waited so long. I guess she was just waiting for something."

Tai turned Yamato's face towards him. "Take off your shirt. I want to see them." Yamato just looked at Tai as though he were insane, but Tai just gave him a quick smile. "I'm not going to do anything. I just want to see them…and take pictures so we can use them against the idiots that gave you hell and make them pay for it."

"Tai—"

"Do you want them to do this to someone else?" Yamato shook his head. "Okay, then let me do this."

Yamato let out a deep sigh as Tai went in search of a camera. He waited until he spotted the brunette again before removing his sweater and shirt. He didn't really want anyone to see the bruises. In fact, he himself didn't want to see them. He just wanted to wait until they were healed before he even bothered to look at the damage done to his body. He kept hearing the click of the camera and felt Tai's hand touching him gently where the bruising looked worse. It all made him shake with unease.

"How'd you get this?" Tai asked as his hand ran down the knife wound.

"He got pissed at Als and took it out on me. Almost got me with a broom, too. That was the most scared I've ever been."

"And this?" His hand ran over the last mark he received before Yanni let him go.

"Brand. He caught me trying to off myself. Thought it would make it easier on everyone if I was gone."

Tai resisted the urge to smack Yamato over the head before he took the remaining pictures he needed. There was much more than just bruising. There were some burn marks, both from ropes and possibly heated metal. The lacerations were worse. Fortunately, they looked old and several were already healing. The rope burns were worrying him. Some led to open wounds.

Without giving Yamato much of a warning, he started to rub an ointment on the bruises. Yamato let out a short sound of surprise but noticed how much better he was feeling and let it go on. He knew Tai was done once he was handed his shirt.

"Any others?"

"Yeah, but I'll get those later."

Just as Yamato expected, Taichi began to check his arms for cuts. He looked rather pleased to find none. He was taken by surprise when Tai started to check his ankles for any such marks, too. He was amazed to see that Tai wasn't surprised at the bruises there, too.

"I heard that some people also commit suicide by cutting the veins around their ankles," Tai said. "Idiots. So, how did you get caught? And why exactly did you want to kill yourself?"

"I told you, I thought it would be easier for everyone if I was gone. And Lu walked in on when I was about to slit my wrists. He got really pissed for that. I guess he thought he should be able to control whether I lived or not, too."

They let the uneasy silence take over as Tai just ran his hand over Yamato's. Each was just letting everything that was being said sink in. Just as Yamato was going to excuse himself so Tai could return to his work, the brunette spoke.

"Did you ever mean it when you said you wanted me out of your life?"

"No. I just said that hoping you would hate me or at least forget about me. Difficult, huh?"

"Yeah, especially since I still care about you. Nothing can change that."

"How the hell can you say that so easily?"

"How couldn't I? We've been like best friends since our first fight in the digital world and we were in a relationship for two years. These events, difficult and confusing as they were, can't compare to that. As long as we get everything clear, then there won't be a problem."

"But I've been a jerk to you."

"No, you've an asshole."

"You're right, I'm an asshole, and I've…I'm just…I'm sorry. I have no idea what the hell I'll do next."

Tai gave this a few second's thought. He knew what he was going to say would either be positive or negative for the both of them. But either way, he'd prefer to ride it out and see the outcome instead of having to play a game of what-if and guess what would have happened.

"Then, how about giving us another chance at being together?" Yamato gave the most surprised expression he ever had and it honestly made Tai laugh. "What? Did I grow horns?"

"No. I'm just shocked you still want to bother with me, even after what I put you through. I mean, c'mon, who would want to get back with me after playing an on and off game of 'I love you, so go fuck off.'"

Tai smiled lightly. "That was totally unexpected. At least your mental state hasn't totally gone off kilter."

Yamato looked at him oddly and shrugged his shoulders. "What did you expect me to say?"

"Well, somehow, 'Oh, we can never be together because I've been raped, hence I'm defiled and ugly, and unwanted,' seems to be the norm. Why not go with that?"

That somehow made Yamato's expression lighten. He posed a dramatic stance before leaning against Tai, nearly knocking the brunette over. "Thou shall never touch this body again because it belongs to a defiled, unwanted, raped, beaten, dumbass, who has no idea what to do except mope and angst. Better?"

"No," Tai laughed. "I preferred playing 'I love you, so go fuck off.'"

((6.6))

Yamato watched as Taichi worked on the last problem for the night. Yamato put it to himself to help. During the time Tai worked on his Literature and History essays, Yamato worked on Chemistry and Math. Before Tai got irritated with one, they'd switch.

His initial worry was gone and now all he had left to do was to call his brother and have a long talk with him. But even that left him with worry. Kari had told him a second time that TK hadn't gone to school. His only fear was that TK would be mad at him, but that wasn't possible.

Done with his work for that night, Tai took a quick glance at Yama before he began to put his things away.

"What's wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, um…I've been trying to get in contact with TK, but he hasn't been to school and he hasn't answered his phone."

"Does he even know where you are?" Tai asked suspiciously.

"I called my parents and told them."

Tai stood with a relieved expression. Yamato was really taking responsibility for his own family. He looked at the clock, 11:30 PM.

"Give him a call. If he doesn't answer his phone, call your mother. I'm sure they're still awake. Besides, I'm sure your mom would like to hear from you again. I'm going to take a shower, okay? Use my cell if you want."

He watched as Tai picked up his stuff and hauled it to his room before entering the shower.

Rather than to call Takeru directly, he decided to call his mother first. But their short-lived conversation ended with her saying, "He said he was sleeping over with Tai and Kari. Well, isn't he there?"

It was enough to rouse Yamato's suspicions. Maybe Takeru was mad at him and just lied to his mother so she wouldn't worry. He was probably at a friend's house, pissed to all hell. Regardless, he knew it would be hell to try to get him to answer his cell phone. 'If he's pissed at me, he'll just hang up the second he recognizes my voice. He has every right to be, too.'

By the time Taichi was out, Yamato had been staring at the phone for nearly ten minutes, as if doing so would make it ring.

"What happened?"

"She said he went to a friend's house."

"Did you give him a call on his cell?"

"No. He said he was going to sleep over with us."

"That's weird. Well, if he is, then he's probably with Hojo and Kari right now."

"Wouldn't she have called by now?"

Tai laughed. "Kari never calls when she's with Hojo. But if she ends up pregnant…he's going to find himself a new face."

Yamato couldn't suppress the minor laugh, but his worry didn't subside. He wasn't really surprised when Tai dragged him to the bedroom. They both had a long day and were both tired. He was caught off guard when Tai pulled him onto the bed.

"We both need this, and no arguing," Tai whispered into Yamato's ear as he pulled the blanket around them.

With that said, Tai managed to slip into his dream world. Yamato, on the other hand, couldn't.

(6.6)

Takeru was tired. He was getting a case of cabin fever from just staring at the girl in front of him. His plan was to wait until she fell asleep then he'd go out the door. But she eyed him like a hawk.

"I'm not letting you out."

"Why?"

"It'll be like sending a gazelle into the lion's den. Trust me, stay put."

"But I have to use the bathroom. And it's 2 in the morning. Who would be up?"

"Trust me. They are up. I've kept myself up all night long to know that they are up. They just want you to do something stupid."

He watched her as Yanni searched the room, emptying out her trash bin and handing it to Takeru. The confused Takeru had changed rapidly as he realized what she meant. "I'm not going in this. And you're here. It's embarrassing."

"Hey, whatever you need to survive, right? I'll cover my ears and eyes if I have to. Just use it and dump the waste out the window."

"The window!"

"There are bars. All the windows have bars. No way in, no way out. Except the front and back doors."

Before TK could comment, his phone rang.

"Don't answer it!" Yanni yelled.

TK did. Not caring who it was, so long as they could help him get out. "Help. I'm stuck in a room with a lunatic. She won't—hey!"

Yanni snatched the phone from his hands, planning to drop kick him if she had to. "I'm sorry. Didn't I tell you not to answer it? I told you, as long as you listen to me, you'd be fine!"

She was about to pull out the battery when she heard a familiar voice call out to her. "Yanni?"

"Yamato, if you stay where you are, I'll get your brother out of here safely. Trust me. As long as you listen to me, you'll be fine."

(6.6)

Yamato stared at the phone. He had been dialing TK's cell number for almost twenty minutes. Yanni obviously didn't want TK to get his phone back. He kept getting TK's voicemail. He was already panicking just trying to figure out if it really was Yanni who responded to him.

'Yanni never talked like that. She would say something stupid. She would have said "Pizza Delivery Parlor, we stuff your birds for free." It couldn't have been.'

But had to be Yanni,. Then that meant TK was in that house with Lu and Als. Unless they moved. It was bound to happen, right? And what did she mean by "stay"! If his brother was in any kind of trouble, he couldn't just stay put. If he was with Lu…the thought hadn't even played itself out as he ransacked Tai's room, searching for the pocketknife he knew Tai had. If he planned to venture into hell again, he'd bring something to protect himself, or at least defend himself as much as he could. He wasn't even aware of the noise he was making until Tai got up.

"What's going on?" he asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and getting his sleep fogged mind to wake up.

Yamato just looked at him, a serious expression on top of his panic, before he stood up, ready to leave. "I have to get Takeru."

"What?"

"They have him. I have to get him."

"Wait. Who?"

"Als and Lu.."

Taichi got off the bed, reaching for his shoes. "Just let me get my jacket, okay?"

"No! If they get you, too...I'm not risking it."

"And I'm not going to deal with you becoming a half-shell a second time, Yama. If that happens, you better leave the country or I'll beat the living shit out of you."

Yamato ran his hands through his hair, frustration quickly taking place of anything that was conflicting his emotions. He stared at the brunette, who obviously wouldn't be moved from his decision.

"Fine, but promise you won't enter the house. No matter what happens, don't enter the house."

"Okay. Let's go."

((0.0))

You guys thought they were gonna do it, huh?


	15. Chapter 13 and Epilogue

FOT: Sorry, I would have had this out sooner, but… (looks at pile of textbooks), school came into play and I didn't realize I wouldn't really have time for this. The fact that I got hardcore writer's block didn't help. Not only that, but I ended up having personal issues, and that piled on stress.

Hitomi: And me, being the muse of not only smut fiction (not this fic, of course, but others) but school and social policies, ALL our attention has been focused on mainly balancing personal and social issues.

FOT: So I apologize for not fulfilling my promise…and sending this late. Just for that, I decided to extend this and include the epilogue.

Hitomi: And for those that forgot, Lu is mental. He's not evil, he's just not right in the head.

FOT: So, without further delay. Here is the final chapter of Silence and Shame

** Silence and Shame**

**By Fairyoftwilight**

**Chapter 13**

Yanni stared at Takeru's phone, which she held in her hand. It was 3:15 in the morning. It had stopped ringing almost 20 minutes ago. She turned her attention back to Takeru as the sound of a power drill invaded the silence. He jumped, surprised at the sound. She grinned at him and shook his phone.

"I told you they were up."

He looked at her with a grin. He looked at the door, whispering, "So, what'cha gonna do now, genius?"

She smiled at him. "I said I was gonna get you out, and I am."

"Oh really? How? You said you don't want them to get me and they're gonna get in. What's your plan?"

"I'm gonna get you out."

He almost laughed at this, especially since she still had that grin on her face. "There's only one way out and they're there right now."

"No, there isn't. Just follow me."

She didn't give him a chance to question her actions as she grabbed his arm, pulling him to the closet. She pushed aside a large box filled with dolls. She pointed at the wall, smiling at Takeru.

"This leads to the next room," she beamed.

Takeru let out an irritated laugh. "That's a wall."

She shook her head and pushed it in, a light thump coming out. It was a small door, barely wide enough for them to fit.

"I thought you said there was only one way out and that was the front and back doors!"

"Yes. That is the front," she said, pointing at her bedroom door. "And this is the back."

"These aren't front and back doors!"

"Yes, they are. The other front and back doors are a bit trickier."

"Then why didn't you do this before?"

"I needed to make sure they were busy somewhere. I already told you: trust me, I'll get you out."

"If you kept this a secret, what makes me sure that you're actually helping me?"

She reached into the box and pulled out a shoebox. She reached in and took out a picture.

"Well, are you going to trust the person who helped your brother or the ones that did this?"

She shoved the picture to his face. She turned back, pushing the box into her shirt as she started to crawl into the small passage. Takeru didn't take long to follow, aghast at what she showed him, but still suspicious. He followed Yanni nonetheless.

When they got through the crawl space, Takeru noted it led to a closet in the center of the hall. It was small, but wide enough for them to both fit in. Yanni pushed herself around Takeru, pushing back the part of the wall she took down. It was difficult to tell it could come apart. She pushed herself back to the opposite wall, letting out a troubled sigh. She turned to Takeru, placing her finger against her lips.

She pulled a little at the wall, a piece big enough for her to crawl through giving way. She looked inside the next room, finding no one there. She effortlessly crawled through, motioning for Takeru to follow her.

Takeru took a moment to look at the room. The room was filled with a variety of things he only remembered seeing from the comic books his friends would sneak into school. There were chains, whips, and other various objects thrown about the place. He couldn't help spotting a glow from the corner. He moved toward it, determined to figure out what it was, but Yanni pulled him to follow her. Once he was out, she pulled the wall back into place.

She moved to a bed in the center of the room, kneeling to move a part of the floor away. She took out a video, shoving it into the shoebox. She pulled him across the room, taking out another video from the camera Takeru had been unknowingly staring at. It had been hidden as part of the wall, pointing directly at the bed. Yanni and Als were the only two people that knew about that camera.

"How did you know it was there?"

"I've had more time to discover the little things in this house," she whispered. "Follow me."

She moved to the door, leaning down and placing a small mirror through the crack at the bottom. She looked unsatisfied.

"When I open the door, RUN, okay?"

"Run where? Out the front door?"

"No. They'll be waiting outside _that_ door. We're going out the back door. We can jump over the fence and into the neighbor's yard. Just remember to run as soon as I open the door. Jump over the banister if you have to, but don't let them get you, okay?"

She noticed a foot walk into her room, and she quickly opened the door, forgetting the mirror she was using. She heard Lu yell and she threw the door open, running down the stairs, pulling Takeru along. She shifted around the stairwell, aiming for the back door through the kitchen.

She reached for the door, trying to open it. It wouldn't. Panic struck her as she searched for the lock, finding none.

"You can't open it that way. We never showed you how to open that door."

She turned, spotting Als. She didn't wait a single second as she pulled Takeru along, aiming for the front door only to Spot Lu there. It looked like a game of pickle as she ran back and forth, unsure of what to do for a moment. She knew if Takeru wasn't with her, she really wouldn't care if she made it to the door or not. She stopped for a second to assess what her best bet was. Takeru waited to catch his breath.

"You might as well give up. You can't win this one, Yanni," Als smirked.

Yanni didn't bother to see if Lu was coming at her as she grabbed Takeru, running toward the rooms upstairs again. She was caught. She had no idea what to do. She did the only thing she could think of and shoved Takeru into the room they were just in, dumping the box next to him. She hoped he would think of running into the hole as she fled into the room Yamato had been held in.

((0.0))

Yamato had been stubborn. He didn't want to call the police and alert them to what was happening. His imagination was running wild with images of Takeru being shot just as the police sirens went off. With his paranoid mind wandering from place to place, he was amazed at how calm he managed to keep himself.

Taichi had managed to convince him to get a taxi. He was amazed Yamato didn't jump out of the taxi as they drove onto that street. He realized how much Yamato was holding inside as his foot shook throughout the ride. Yamato was scared, but who wouldn't be?

They had stood outside that house for several minutes before Yamato turned to him.

"I'm going inside," he said. "Stay out here!"

Taichi only looked at him. An exhausted sigh escaped him. "Fine. But if I get the feeling you're not coming out, I'm calling the cops and I'm running in there. Don't tell me not to."

Yamato didn't bother to argue, he just walked on toward the house. He looked back and was able to see Tai start pacing. He hesitated for a bit before he turned the knob, surprised to find it open.

((0.0))

Takeru wasn't sure what to do. He locked the door to the room, but didn't feel as if it would be safe for long. He had only thought about the box Yanni dumped. She was protecting that thing as well as him. It was valuable. He quickly thought about the crawl space and how it was difficult where it was. He moved towards it.

He practically ran into it before he got in, shutting it fast. He could already hear yelling outside. With how loud they were, he was surprised the neighbors didn't start cursing and yelling too, threatening to call the police. But there was no sound like that. The only sound he heard was Als threatening to blow off Yanni's arm if she didn't say where he was.

"Why don't you go check up your pussy!" she yelled out.

"You're useless."

It was the last thing anyone said as he heard a thump on the floor. He cringed at the thoughts swimming through his head as he pulled into himself. Whatever brave act he had before meant nothing here.

((0.0))

Yamato was surprised to hear the house in silence. It wasn't normal. He was only vaguely aware that the door had been shut and locked behind him. He turned, finding Lu with a smile on his face.

"You came back," he beamed, obviously happy with this turn out.

"I just came for my little brother. Where is he?"

Lu didn't answer him. Instead he started to move forward, hands ready to grab him. Yamato reached behind him and pulled out the pocketknife he had borrowed, pointing it at Lu, who momentarily stopped.

"Where is my brother?"

Lu didn't seem as intimidated by the knife as Yamato hoped. He edged closer with every step as Yamato tried to back away. Lu reached out to grab his shoulder, but Yamato lashed out in surprise and fear. He didn't even notice when he dragged it across Lu's arm. Lu didn't seem to notice either.

"You came back to me. That means you like me, right? Als…she said you left because you didn't like me."

"I just want my brother. Where is he? Yanni said he was here."

Lu looked at him with sad eyes. "But if you take him, you'll leave."

"Lu."

They both directed their attention to the stairs. Als stood there, her hand gripping onto Yanni's hair. Yanni was trying to kick at her with all her might, but obviously couldn't, something was wrong.

"Don't tell him anything."

Yanni finally looked down, spotting Yamato. "You idiot! I told you I'd handle it! Why didn't you stay put?!"

"He's my brother and I want to make sure he's okay! Where is he?!"

Yanni was about to talk, when Als yanked her back, receiving an "Ow, you bitch." She laughed a little, but didn't deter her position.

"Now that's interesting. I was wondering how you got here when I hadn't said a thing," Als stated. She looked at Yanni again, then down the hallway. She set her gaze back to Yamato, spotting the pocketknife he had. "Interesting. You have a new toy. So do I. You see, I know you have two people you care about: Yanni and your darling little brother."

Yamato stared at her, glaring more and more every second. Her smile grew as she reached behind and pulled out a gun.

"Let's play a game, shall we? You have to choose, either you stay here with us, or I put a bullet inside one of their heads. But you have to choose which one gets it."

"You promised not to hurt her!"

Yamato turned his attention towards Lu. Als let out an irritated sigh before she started to make her way down the stairs, ignoring Yanni's protests.

"Lu, honey, I'm not going to hurt her. Yamato is. He wants to hurt her. That's why he wants to leave. He wants to see her get hurt. Have I ever broken a promise to you?"

Yamato was stuck to the spot. He wasn't sure if he should move or not as Als crept closer and closer towards Lu. He wasn't even aware when Yanni grabbed his pocketknife and stabbed Als with it.

It happened too quickly as Yamato pushed Yanni out of the way. Als had directed her gun towards the little girl, but in the blur of motion hit Yamato instead. He gripped his hip.

The silence that invaded the room was enough to make anyone want to rip their ears out. He wasn't even aware of what ensued next. He was barely aware of Yanni trying to pull him up.

"Yamato!"

He looked up, spotting Takeru at the top of the stairs. Yanni was quick to her feet, rushing up and pushing him down as Als fired again.

"I'm gonna kill you!"

Yamato stared on, unaware of how it could have happened. Lu was on Als, trying to take the gun away. Als merely kept trying to aim and fire. He didn't bother to move until one bullet hit close to his shoulder, grazing it bad. He got to his feet, proceeding to what he believed to be the safest spot in the house. He dragged himself up the stairs, as fast as he could with his injured leg. He spotted Yanni shoving Takeru inside a room before she ran up to him, too, forcing him to move quickly.

"Yamato," Takeru whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Of course he's not!" Yanni practically yelled. "He got shot and-and-and…Why the hell didn't you two stay where I told you?! Damned it, why did you let yourself get shot?"

Yamato stared at her, pain etched on his face, anger rising quickly. "Shut up! If I didn't push you out of the way, you would have a bullet in your head."

She didn't reply. She merely watched as the blood poured, the stain slowly growing. She looked up and noticed they were in the room Yamato had been in. The gunshots outside the room stopped, replaced by Als' cry.

((6.6))

Tai did the most he could do and pace. He could barely see the silhouettes through the window. Yamato had been in there less than five minutes when he heard gunshots ring through. He reacted quickly, ducking until they stopped

He always thought he would hesitate. He always thought he would freeze at a moment like this. He was surprised when he dialed the police, unleashing the information they asked for as quickly as he did.

He found it amazing that he managed to register the flames that were slowly but surely rising inside the house.

((6.6))

They could smell it, smoke. Yanni ran to the door, opening it, finding the hallway filled with smoke. They couldn't have been in there less than ten minutes.

"You bastard! Do you see what I had to do?!"

Yamato stood as best he could and hobbled to the door, spotting Yanni running to the stair banister. He felt something pull at his heart when she screamed out.

"LU! Don't touch him!"

Yamato ran as fast as he could and pulled her away from the banister, spotting the flames starting to grow. They had to get out. He coughed as the smoke started to become darker.

"Takeru!" he managed to cough out.

His brother emerged from the room quickly, but stopped dead. Yamato looked back towards Yanni, catching a glimpse of Als as she pulled the gun up.

"It's all your fault! If you would have just stayed out of the way, I would have made millions with him!"

She pulled the trigger, the bullet connecting with Yamato's shoulder as he yanked Yanni around. Takeru watched as Als kept trying to shoot, but her gun was finally empty. He watched as Yanni got up from under Yamato and rammed into Als, sending them both down the stairs. He ran to Yamato, pulling him up as he looked over the banister. Lu wasn't moving from where he was, even as the fire surrounded him. He was most likely dead. He looked down the stairs, both Yanni and Als lying on the floor. Yanni was squeezing Als' neck. Yamato got off of Takeru, making his way down to the two as quickly as he could. He grabbed Yanni's shoulder and tried to pull her off.

"I have to make sure she's dead!"

"Yanni, let her go. We have to get out of here."

He looked at Takeru and tried to get her off of Als. He finally managed to, and started to drag her to the door. He looked at Als, letting out a sigh of disbelief in himself. Yanni was kicking at him for the first time, wanting to get lose. He felt his arm and leg giving up on him.

"Takeru, grab her," he whispered, unsure if his brother heard him or not.

He looked at Lu, unmoving on the floor, then at Als. He didn't care if she was dead or not. He made his decision and kept going out the door.

((6.6))

Tai kept himself from running to the house, already seeing the police and firemen arrive. He just looked on, unsure of what to do. He was grateful when he spotted Takeru come out the door, Yamato coming out right after him. He could barely hear Takeru yelling that there were still other people inside or the girl finally calming down and asking Takeru about a box.

Yamato just looked at Tai, smiling before he collapsed.

((6.6))

Yamato opened his eyes, quickly aware he was in a hospital. He looked around, spotting Tai on the chair next to his bed, completely bored out of his mind.

"Tai," Yamato whispered, barely catching his attention.

"Hey, you're awake," Tai smiled. "How do you feel?"

"Shit tired. Have I been here long?"

"A little. I mean you've been asleep for like a day and a half." Tai let Yamato process that before he continued. "I don't know what happened. The doctor used a lot of medical jargon."

Yamato blinked slowly, still tired, his mind slightly foggy. He didn't want to think.

"Where's Yanni and Takeru?"

"Takeru is at home. Yanni didn't want to leave the hospital, but I took her home. I brought her back today, though. Would you like her to come in?"

"Yeah. She probably won't believe that I'm okay until she sees me."

Tai walked to the entrance of the room, peeking out the door. It didn't take long for Yanni to run inside, nearly toppling Yamato to the ground when she hugged him.

"You idiot! I told you to wait. I told you I'd get him out fine."

He laughed for a bit, patting her head. "Yanni, you didn't manage to. What happened to Lu?"

Yanni stopped the rant she was about to start, staring at him with a serious face. "He was burned, bad. He's in a mental institution now. Als is dead. Snapped her neck on the way down the stairs. Takeru is okay. But you're stupid! You shouldn't have gotten hit! But I'm glad you're okay."

"I'd do it again if I have to."

Yanni smiled a bit. Her expression quickly changed to a passive one. "The police have questions for you. Please don't convict Louis."

Yanni left it at that before she turned and ran out the door. Yamato tried to get up and follow her, but his body had other ideas as he just collapsed back. Tai just let out a sigh, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll look for her in a bit. She's been skittish. And with all she saw, I'm not surprised."

"What do you mean?"

"She gave a box to the police officers and was talking really fast about all these things. She's seen a lot. But she won't say why she's defending Louis. Something will turn up though."

Yamato just nodded. He had the feeling that would be the last time he'd see her, no matter how much he hoped otherwise.

(6.6)

**Epilogue:**

"C'mon Asashi," Yamato called, gently pulling the leash connected to his dog.

He was taking her out on another walk. It was the second that day. He assumed it was natural to just want to walk, but he knew he had other reasons. No one else seemed to get it. Even Tai looked at him odd when he said he was going out.

Instead of responding with "Okay, get back home safe," Tai's reaction was more along the lines of "What? Again? But you took her out for a walk this morning."

It was just habit. Maybe it wasn't long, but after being holed up and having to ask permission to step outside for four months, which felt like forever, he just wanted to be outside as much as possible. Even after four years, he still just wanted to be outside as much as possible. It was his freedom to be out and doing what he wanted.

He even knew why he chose Asashi the day Tai dragged him to the pet store and told him to chose an animal, any animal, for company. Even when Yamato protested and tried to leave the pet store, claiming he didn't need a pet for company, Tai reasoned that he just didn't want Yamato to feel lonely. Of course, Yamato felt more embarrassed than insulted. The girls at the store just giggled and whispered to themselves that they were just cute. After surveying the cats, birds, fish, and reptiles, he settled with the most pathetic looking dog in the bunch. "Because I don't want it to feel lonely," he mocked.

It wound up being a Golden Retriever. He didn't stop himself when he stated, "Her name is Asashi, because she has golden hair that radiates the sun, just like mine." Of course he got the weirdest stare from Tai, who immediately checked his temperature, stating he was delusional and in dire need of medical attention. That was the spring after he got out of the hospital.

The first week out of the hospital and back in school was the worst. Isis made it her job to tackle him at the entrance of school, threatening him with death if he didn't tell her what happened in full detail. Jubilee wanted nothing more than an apology, any apology, before she apologized herself for demanding such a thing.

During the month that ensued, the police continuously questioned him, getting more details out of him than he ever wanted to state. The more he let out, the more embarrassed he became, wanting nothing more than to pretend he didn't exist. He thought he would have done well in his situation if he just said everything, but he did worse. There were so many escape routes he missed and opportunities thwarted by Als' simple threat. He should have contacted the police in the first place. But the thought of his family being in danger was enough to hold him back. In the end, he took the doctor's advice and saw a psychologist.

He followed Yanni's wishes and didn't convict Lu. He did discover that he had a mental disorder. What kind, the doctors never said. Even if they had, he doubted he'd remember. All he understood was a split-personality with rapid mood swings. At least that's how it was now. He saw Lu only once in the mental institution. He had been talking to a wall, laughing, then crying before he just stood quiet saying "I love you" repeatedly, before he started laughing again.

Yamato hadn't seen Yanni since that time in the hospital. Tai had gone out to look for her; he searched throughout the hospital, even asked the people at the front desk if they had seen her, but no luck. She just left.

Nothing else happened during those four years besides him moving in with Tai. It an odd transition for him. He started wearing heavy or long jackets. There was one time when he panicked every time someone brushed up against him. He couldn't stand large crowds for a few months. He was glad that it only lasted for a while.

He stopped walking and looked out. It was a familiar house to him. He scoffed a little, but walked up to it, telling Asashi to follow him. He knocked on the door, hesitantly, getting no response. He pulled the door, getting it open easily. He took one look at the lounge. It was still charred. Four years and no one bothered to fix it or tear it down. He wondered why. Maybe it would be inconvenient for them to do such a thing. The story did make the news. Who would want that house?

He placed a foot on the stairs, taking a cautious step up. It held. He did so on each step, surprised on how well it stayed in place. He made it to the top, shocked to find it had been untouched by the fire. He didn't bother to go inside the rooms. He just stared at their doors.

He stood there for several minutes, just contemplating before he turned around, ready to head back down.

"Let's go home, Asashi. This place brings bad memories. I have no idea what brought me here."

"It's the bad memories that do it."

He turned quickly, spotting one of the doors open. He walked towards the door, and peered inside the room. Nothing. No one was in there. It was just bare. He stepped away from the room and saw Tai standing on the top of the stairs.

"Fuck you scared me." Yamato tugged Asashi's collar, since she started to get curious about the wall. "Did you follow me?"

"Sort of. I just wanted to walk with you, but you were already five minutes in when I decided to. I just got lucky when I saw you enter the house. I was taking a guess."

"I wasn't planning on coming here, if that's what you mean."

Tai shook his head and led them down the stairs. They didn't say a thing until they exited the house. Tai only had one question on his mind.

"Why did you go inside?"

"I guess I thought I'd see Yanni or something. I couldn't stop myself once I saw it. Maybe it was the bad memories."

Tai wrapped his arms around Yamato, hugging him tightly. "Stop doing that. It makes me depressed. Let's go home. You can mock my cooking skills and tell me I'm an expert at burning water."

"Fine. C'mon Asashi," he said, tugging a bit before they started walking again.

He took one last look behind himself. Maybe four years wasn't enough to forget. He probably shouldn't try to. At least his family is safe and nothing could hurt them now. He still wondered about Yanni. He hoped she was safe and well. He looked at Tai, who was just smiling. He had been forgiven, that was all that mattered.

Note: For those of you who don't know, Pickle is a technique Baseball players use to trap the runner between two bases. They constantly pass the ball back and forth until either the runner slips by or the runner is touched out.

After Talk:

FOT: Ya know, I noticed Yanni was coming out to be a Mary Sue character here.

Hitomi: We had to fix that, which made the update take longer, too, yay!

FOT: Also, have no idea how fast the cops in Japan work, so let's use American cops as an example, 'kay? I also have never set any houses on fire, so I really have no idea how quickly they burn. I do know this: The older the house is the faster it burns. Again, Als is a Psychopath.

Also, thank you for all who had patience with me and my very VERY erratic updating. I loved the reviews very much, and that pushed me into wanting to finish this, even when I just wanted to let it collect dust. And I know the chapter felt a little half-assed. I sorta rushed the last half. And I apologize for that. But this was my first multi-chapter story that I finished. Thank you all.


End file.
